In 1978, Edward Said published Orientalism, a text that is often credited as the foundation for postcolonial theory. Orientalism begins with the following quote from Karl Marx: “They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented.” (The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte). Said’s book is about the warped Western view of the Middle East as inferior. This view is known as Orientalism. The quote by Karl Marx that opens the book demonstrates this Orientalism by saying that Middle Easterners are incapable of representing themselves. The novel is attempting to refute this quote from Marx. Said makes the argument that the Western view of the Middle East is one of fabrication and perpetuates the belief that the West is superior. Said traces this “orientalism” all the way back to Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in the late 1700s. By presenting a false image of the Middle East in media and culture, the West is attempting to excuse Western imperialism and colonialism. Although Said wrote Orientalism in the 1970s, it is still relevant. In modern film and television, we are often presented with a version of the Middle East that is far from the truth. Thus, it is evident that the effects of colonialism are still present in how we view this region of the world.

Works Cited 

Hamadi, Lutfi. “Edward Said: The Postcolonial Theory and the Literature of Decolonization”. European Scientific Institute, July 4, 1967, pp. 39-46. CORE, doi:10.19044.

Hibri, Cyma. “Orientalism: Edward Said’s Groundbreaking Book Explained.” The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2025, theconversation.com/orientalism-edward-saids-groundbreaking-book-explained-197429.

Said, Edward. Orientalism. https://monoskop.org/images/4/4e/Said_Edward_Orientalism_1979.pdf