Orientalism since the Rise of Islam

Cultural Critique, 1992

1998

Edward Said's Orientalism (1978) argued that the image of the Middle East (Orientalism) that was created by "western" (mainly French) writers and artists in the 19th century justified European imperialism in the region. Similar justifications can be detected in modern authors, such as Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" which supports modern imperialist activity in the Middle East. This paper investigates how Orientalism and its modern derivations can and cannot be applied to the study of the pre-modern Middle East, using two concrete examples: urbanism in the Middle East during the Greco-Roman period (c. 323 BCE-c. 300 CE) and the early Islamic conquests of the Middle East in the seventh century CE. I will argue that using presentist and 19th century frames of reference concerning "east" and "west" are misleading, simplistic, and modes of thinking that actually obscure the complexities of everyday interaction in the pre-modern Middle East.

Arguably more than other region, the predominantly Muslim Southwest Asia has played the key role in determining global events over the past half century. This crucial position that a relatively small region holds is in great part a direct result of the imbalanced Euro-Muslim relationship of generations past. Just as in Latin America, Africa, or India, the modern Muslim world was created in large part by European colonialism and the outsized role the region plays on modern world events is a legacy of a long history of intervention from the West. The idea of the Orient and the Middle East are, as the academic Edward Said argued a modern European construction. The entire existence of the modern region is essentially "a system of representations framed by a whole set of forces that brought the Orient into western learning, western consciousness, and later western empire.” Simply put, while the region has been populated for longer than any other non-African area in the world, what we refer to as the modern Middle East would not exist with the intervention of European powers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The concept of Orientalism has been widely dealt with in the humanities and social sciences. It helps explain a peculiar construction of the Arab-Muslim world. Orientalism has operated in various historical paradigms but has always emphasised specific Western constructions of the Orient. Nowadays, the concept has metamorphosed to refer to new constructions of the Orient. New representations of Islam and the Muslim world are dominating the Western public space. The aim of this paper is twofold. It explores the historical development and paradigmatic shifts that have affected the concept of Orientalism. It then suggests that a neo-Orientalism has recently emerged, is less territorialised and operating within a new paradigm. It holds a new ideologically motivated agenda, constructs new objects, and feeds the social phenomenon called Islamophobia.

The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions, 2015

It is not so common to find a book such as this, which offers brilliant Interactions of the Islamic World with the West and the East. This volume contains balanced research studies drawn from Pre-Islamic and Islamic, also colonial and postcolonial, in addition to other recent theoretical dimensions in international relations. This well-structured book is divided into four chapters as it follows: I.) Centuries of Islamic Impact on Western Europe, II.) Twentieth Century Contacts between East-Central Europe and the Near East, III.) Saudi Arabia and the Far East, IV.) Book Reviews. It includes 13 papers and 4 book reviews written by distinguished colleagues from Egypt, Hungary, United States of America and Croatia.

Akademik Tarih ve Düşünce Dergisi, 2025

Many of the definitions of "Orientalism" contain their Western meaning; the ambiguity of this term with its negative connotation, especially in relation to European colonialism, is acknowledged. Edward Said's efforts to disambiguate it did not reduce this complexity, but rather became the focus and basis of criticism in an anti-Western discourse. The emphasis on the opposition between the Eastern (Orientalized) and Western (Westernized) worlds creates a distance in the researcher's mind between the subject and its truth; a distance that causes the construction of an unfair image of the subject. The change of this term in dealing with the subject indicates a change in the Westerners' approach to it, and unfortunately, these changes are ignored by critics, especially Muslims. The lack of attention to the role of time in providing definitions, especially in the field of Islamic studies in the West, has affected this opposition, and criticizing a frozen concept has deepened the depth of disagreement. This article attempts to address the contemporary challenge and paradigm shift of Orientalism by examining the context of the construction of the term "Orientalism" in European culture, its territoriality or applications, our understanding of Orientalism, the role of Orientalists in the transformation of Western

ET. Research & Analysis, 2021

Westerners view Islam more sympathetically due to the increase in religious conversions. Christianity's survival was threatened by Islam's growing political power. Soon Islam became a threat to Christianity's spiritual, political, and social self-satisfaction. This was the genesis and use of Orientalism by Westerners for a long time to tarnish Islam's image and Prophet Muhammed (SAW). This phenomenon was sustained for many centuries. However, this phenomenon was soon dispelled by the 18th century when it became apparent that Islamic studies could not be separated from other disciplines. This view may help us to see the contribution of Orientalism to Islam. The 20th-century Orientalism was dominated by the Islamic scientific works of the Orientalists. These had a profound impact on Islamic studies in Muslim countries around the globe. Some Muslim scholars argue that the purpose of studying Islam in Europe and Muslim cultures in Europe during medieval times was to primarily apologize. This paper therefore examines orientalism's impact on the Muslims world. It reviews the history of Orientalism, its development and its impact on the Muslim World. It was discovered that these false representations of Islam have been deliberately produced historically, as Edward Said and other Western scholars have demonstrated. This is to ensure that the West continues its cultural and political dominance over Muslims.

2006

This is a timely volume that explores Europe in its relation to Asia in a way that moves beyond simplistic notions of West and East. Rejecting the idea of a clash of civilizations, the contributions highlight the interlinked nature of Europe and Asia and attempt to identify cosmopolitan moments of openness. From both a historical and a contemporary perspective, it is shown that both Europe and Asia are not based on fixed cultural or geographical foundations. The East is also in the West. Rather than look at Europe and Asia in terms of separate worlds, they can be seen in terms of cultural struggles common to both. A general theme is that the idea of the West as an ideological, cultural and geopolitical construct is becoming increasingly questionable when applied to the current situation, which is one in which West and East are mutually linked. The articulation of a new European identity that includes a recognition of the non-European is now one of the major chances for Europe to define its identity in the world. Chapters are thematically organized under four headings: ISBN13: 978-0-415-37947-2 (hbk)