The Role of Culture in Orientalism

Introduction 

Edward Said was an American literary critic, post-colonial theorist, and political commentator. His book The Orientalism was published in 1978. It is considered to be his most influential work and has been translated into at least 36 languages. Critics called it, INAUGURATING THE POST-COLONIAL FIELD. 

"Orientalism revolutionised the study of the Middle East and helped to create and shaped entire new fields of study"

Orientalism and Culture 

Orientalism is a Discourse about the orient associated with the military and economic domination of the orient by Europe. 

There are two terms: 

1. The Orient: the East 
2. The Occident: the west 

Orientalism is directly connected with the history of post-colonial countries. It is the study of a debate with historians and scholars. It is indeed the exaggeration of differences about the Western superiority and the analytical models of perceiving the orient world. It is the source of the inaccurate cultural representation that form the foundations of Western thought. There are three aspects of Orientalism in this manner: 

1. Orientalism is a particular way of thinking that contrasts the orient and accidents. 
2. Orientalism is an academic discipline. 
3. Orientalism is a corporate institution for dealing with the orient. 

Reflection on Literature

The way Western people represent Indian culture or the Eastern culture is not what actually the Eastern culture is. The differences seem to be on an extent level. One Poet rightly says, 

East is East and West is West, 

And never shall the twin meet. 

_Rudyard Kipling

The Ballad of East and West

Conclusion

Thus, The Orientalism by Edward Said shows how certain assumptions of the Western world lead to the misinterpretation of the cultural symbols of the Orient.