ABSTRACT
The term orientalism was popularized by Edward Said (1978) in his book with the same name. Said argued that “[T]he Orient was almost a European invention…” which “helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience” (1). He went on to label scholars who study ‘the Orient' as orientalists, and orientalism as the (false) juxtaposition of ‘East' and ‘West.’ Following in the tradition of Foucault and other poststructuralists he then encouraged scholars to explore orientalism as a discourse. As an example he discussed Flaubert, who through his “encounter with an Egyptian courtesan” contributed to the construction of “the Oriental woman” (6). Says Said: “she never spoke for herself, she never represented her emotions, presence, or history. He spoke for and represented her. He was foreign, comparatively wealthy, male, and these were historical facts of domination that allowed him not only to possess Kuchuk Hanem physically but to speak for her and tell his readers in what ways she was ‘typically Oriental’” (6) [emphasis in the original].
