Implications of Edward Said's Orientalism (1978) for the social scientific study of the contemporary Middle East

Scientific Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - General, grade: 1, University of Exeter, course: Research Masters in Middle East Studies, language: English, abstract: Over thirty years since its publication, and ten since the death of its author Edward Said, Orientalism (1978) continues to have a profound effect on Middle East studies. Orientalism positioned Said as one of the founders and chief authorities in postcolonial criticism, opening the ¿floodgate[s] . . . that breached the authority of Western scholarship on Other societies¿ (Prakash, 1995: 99); consequently work produced in the field since has often been in response to Said¿s scholarship (Sullivan, Ismael,1991: 2). Discovering the true or underlying implications of Orientalism for the social scientific study of the Middle East will be the remit of this essay.