An Analysis on the Strengths and Weaknesses of Edward Said's theory of Orientalism

In Orientalism,the author Edward W.Said stated that the Orient is negatively defined and serves to support the West’ssuperiority and strength.Citing a number of discourses and texts in the book,he broke the boundary between knowledge and poli-tics,and further examined how the knowledge that the Western colonial powers shaped about the Orient assisted to make a de-praved picture of the colonies,to justify their colonial ambition and suppression.Nevertheless,although Said attempted to explainthe selection of the oriental area in his discussion,a vast area of the Far East,such as China and Japan is excluded.Furthermore,he regarded the Orient as a completely passive colony,and negated any resistance from the Orient.