Orientalism

Stimulating, elegant and pugnacious' Observer

In this   highly acclaimed work, Edward Said surveys the history and nature of   Western attitudes towards the East, considering Orientalism as a   powerful European ideological creation - a way for writers, philosophers   and colonial administrators to deal with the 'otherness' of eastern   culture, customs and beliefs. He traces this view through the writings   of Homer, Nerval, Flaubert, Disraeli and Kipling, whose imaginative   depictions have greatly contributed to the West's romantic and exotic   picture of the Orient. Drawing on his own experiences as an Arab   Palestinian living in the West, Said examines how these ideas can be a   reflection of European imperialism and racism.