Comprehension Questions 1. Said provides three separate meanings of the term Orientalism. In his first, he uses it as a designation for those who teach, write, or research the Orient through various disciplines. In his second definition, he defines Orientalism as a means of thinking about the Orient and the Occident as it pertains to the distinctions made of the grounds of existence (ontological – it’s a real place) and knowledge (epistemological – a concept) between the two. In his third definition, Said defines Orientalism as a way to discuss and analyze the West’s hegemony over the perceived culture of the Orient. Orientalism by Edward Said

2. He is qualifying the assumption “that the Orient is not an inert fact of nature.” Qualification #1: “It would be wrong to conclude that the Orient was essentially an idea, or a creation with no corresponding reality.” In this qualification, Said basically asserts that even though there is physically no such thing as the Orient, it doesn’t mean that there does not exist a perceived “reality” and he wishes to study the consistency of that perceived reality. Qualification #2: “Ideas, cultures, and histories cannot be seriously understood or studied without their force, or more precisely their configurations of power, also being studied.” Essentially, Said believes that studying the power structure or hegemony is necessary to truly understand this man-made entity.

Qualification #3: “One ought never to assume that the structure of Orientalism is nothing more than a structure of lies or myths which, were the truth about them to be told, would simply blow away.” He basically is saying that even though it’s man-made it is not going away; it has become part of Western consciousness. He views it as a sign of the Occident’s power over the Orient rather than a truthful discussion about the Orient.

3. The three aspects of Said’s “contemporary reality” as they pertain to his fear of distortion and inaccuracy: The distinction between pure and political knowledge: While the ambition may be to remain impartial, the reality is impartiality is problematic when you consider the of that knowledge. He discusses the intertextuality, or discourse between texts, that not only create but also maintain hegemony over the Orient. writer or scholar has a hard time detaching from his biases. Said believes that true knowledge can’t be called nonpolitical if or when there are political circumstances surrounding the production

The methodological question: After giving the methodology of studying Orientalism, Said tries to establish a starting point for the study of texts. He justifies starting with the British, French and American texts based on their entrance into the Orient as a field of study and on their position as colonial powers. Of importance to Said is the study of authority and exteriority. Authority consists of strategic location, which is an author’s position within the text, and strategic formation, which is essentially the idea of intertextuality. Exteriority is two part: the idea that the author is outside of the Orient and also the idea that you can look to the surface of the text through an analysis/evaluation of the author’s methods or craft to reveal how the author represents the Orient.

The personal dimension: Said makes known his personal investment in this type of study based on his childhood experience growing up in Palestine and Egypt and the United States. He wishes to determine the “traces” upon him of hegemony. In this section, he basically reveals his attitude toward the construction of the “East” by the “West.” He is concerned with cultural stereotyping, racism, political imperialism, and dehumanizing of the Other.