--- product_id: 677262378 title: "Orientalism" brand: "edward w. said" price: "₪94" currency: ILS in_stock: true reviews_count: 5 url: https://www.desertcart.co.il/products/677262378-orientalism store_origin: IL region: Israel --- # Orientalism **Brand:** edward w. said **Price:** ₪94 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Orientalism by edward w. said - **How much does it cost?** ₪94 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.il](https://www.desertcart.co.il/products/677262378-orientalism) ## Best For - edward w. said enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted edward w. said brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Orientalism ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #5,219 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #3 in Colonialism & Post-Colonialism #10 in Israel & Palestine History (Books) #11 in Middle Eastern Politics | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,207) | | Dimensions | 5.14 x 0.87 x 7.98 inches | | Edition | First Ed. | | ISBN-10 | 039474067X | | ISBN-13 | 978-0394740676 | | Item Weight | 2.31 pounds | | Language | English | | Print length | 368 pages | | Publication date | October 12, 1979 | | Publisher | Vintage | ## Images ![Orientalism - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91btcHkolmL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A great Book *by P***N on Reviewed in Canada on 20 October 2024* I will highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Oriental Studies ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Eye-opening *by G***O on Reviewed in Mexico on 3 September 2024* It's a great book but a very complicated one, there are a lot of referrences to other authors that can be hard to follow, but in general the idea that Said communicates during the read becomes very clear and has made me question my point of view in a lot of ideas I had. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A staple for any thinker today *by G***G on Reviewed in the United States on 14 September 2023* Said’s Orientalism is a staple that bridges the gap between several discourses and academic studies including Post-colonial studies, Cultural Theory, Critical Theory, Literary Theory, and countless others. Paradoxically, however, Said’s main criticism is aimed at such cemented academic fields, epitomized by Orientalism, the field aimed at studying the Orient from a Western perspective. Said’s underlying question is stated near the end of the book (~p.300): “How can we come to understand other cultures?” This seemingly simple question proliferates a very dangerous assumption: that culture stands out there as some pre-social object waiting to be apprehended by the rational subject (namely, the Westerner). As Said shows, and in a way he explicitly states as being indebted to Foucault, that culture is constructed principally through the discursive operations of a particular subject. To *be* an Oriental is to embody certain assumptions which become proliferated by a discourse (Orientalism) whose construction is such that it is essentially unfalsifiable. As Said aptly points out, the Oriental (a term we stray from using today for its obviously racist undertones which Said carefully traces across modern history and in the history of colonialism) is put into a position where he is to embody contradictory qualities simultaneously such that his identity is always one of negativity, an instrumental object for the purposes of the Westerner’s use: lacking in rationality yet containing the birth of our modern sciences and religious traditions, disorganized yet forming vast networks of control (apropos the Caliphate), static and forever solidified as a continuous identity that can be understood whilst simultaneously being unwieldy and schizophrenic in their diversity. All of these are used to back the Oriental into a corner such that he is merely a tool which can be utilized by the Westerner.I think many of those who are keen on criticizing Said as “painting with too broad of strokes” (such was another review here on Amazon claiming that he was too harsh on Bernard Lewis’ appraisal of Arabic philologically) have not fully understood his project, which is that if we trace Orientalism back, understanding it as a *discourse* (in the Foucaultian sense), we are able to extrapolate certain recurring themes that identify why it seems that Orientals can always somehow appear as racist stereotypes — it is precisely because their image through Western blinders has manufactured the Oriental’s inevitability viz the image.All being said, this is an indispensable text for Post-colonial studies, as well as being instrumental for studies of literary theory, critical theory, and certain strands of poststructuralist/postmodern thought (Foucault, Derrida, even Deleuze). It ready fairly fast and, although it is slow at certain points when he starts to sound like a broken record, his prose is fairly consistent in being engaging and effectively communicating his desired point. An important positive that makes this book more accessible than other Post-colonial material is that it is not very theoretically dense as opposed to someone like Homi Bhabha. Instead, Said opts for a more historically vast characterization of the problem that still provides the same theoretical points whilst allowing the complexity of his point — that identity is not latent within objects and existing pre-socially, instead existing only within a discourse build on implicit power-imbalances — to shine through to those who may not want or be ready for a text of more abstract a nature. All and all, this is a great text that, even as a slow reader, was finished quickly and was extremely enjoyable and valuable, opening up a new area of study in a way that allows one to access a whole new problematic that may have previously appeared only as invisibility. ## Frequently Bought Together - Orientalism - Culture and Imperialism - The Question of Palestine --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.il/products/677262378-orientalism](https://www.desertcart.co.il/products/677262378-orientalism) --- *Product available on Desertcart Israel* *Store origin: IL* *Last updated: 2026-05-24*