Page "Orientalism" Paragraph 14

In 1978, the Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said published his influential and controversial book, Orientalism, which " would forever redefine " the word ; he used the term to describe a pervasive Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the East, shaped by the attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Said was critical of both this scholarly tradition and of some modern scholars, particularly Bernard Lewis.

Said was mainly concerned with literature in the widest sense, especially French literature, and did not cover visual art and Orientalist painting, though others, notably Linda Nochlin, have tried to extend his analysis to art, " with uneven results ".

Said's work became one of the foundational texts of Postcolonialism or Postcolonial studies.