Value of Orientalism Essay

Orientalism, although not currently very common, was a creation of the West. The West, especially France, Britain, and the United States, is undoubtedly a more civilized country as compared to the eastern civilization. In a number of cases, they would find some cultural practices of other societies a little weird. A French journalist reporting on an incident in the Middle East would find it weird to him or her due to differences in cultures. The term “orient” was developed in the West.

It was widely used in the 19th century to refer to the Middle East, especially the region covering Islamic nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and the neighboring countries. The Orients were viewed by the West as people who had oil to sell to the West. Moreover, they were also associated with terrorism. This was the attitude that had been developed by the West. Unlike other nations in the Far East, such as Japan and China, other nations in Asia were viewed as the ones unleashing terror and having a weird culture.

It is intriguing though that such a culture has been accepted in Egypt, which was one of the earliest civilized nations. James Balfour strongly believed that by colonizing Egypt, Britain would have helped once a great country to reveal from the culture of the orients. However, he forgot the fact that Egyptians were able to speak for themselves. The author is critical of the fact the West did not consider giving the orients a chance to express themselves.

Response

The United States, Britain, and France share many things in common regarding civilization. Generally referred to as the West, they have managed to influence other countries around the world to adopt their culture. However, they have developed total mistrust of the Middle East countries, especially the Islamic states. They associate them with terrorism. In fact, western countries believe that without taking into oil, nothing good can come out of the Middle East region.