Orientalism used to mean the study in the West of the Orient, specifically the Middle East and the Muslim world. All that changed some 30 years ago when the late Edward Said, in his book “Orientalism” made it a dirty word. The study of the Arabs, the Middle East and Islam divided East and West, he claimed. It had been politically driven, the Orientalist’s aim being to understand the region so as to control it or to demonstrate Western superiority over it.
He had a point. One of the main British centers for Oriental studies, the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, was established during World War I specifically to create a brigade of trained young men who, knowing the local languages and customs, could play the Great Game in India or ensure the success of British interests in the Middle East and Central Asia; “Knowledge is Power” remains its motto.
A point — but not a large one. To extrapolate from a few genuine cases that all British and French interest in the Middle East over the past 700 years has been conspiracy is a theory too far and has since been shown to be untenable by a host of academics, Arab as well as Western.
But a great deal of damage has been done in the meantime. Inevitably, given the weight of issues burdening the Middle East — Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Islamophobia, terrorism — together with the sense of victimhood that stalks the Middle East as a result, Edward Said’s thesis has been taken out of context and used to build the very walls that he wanted to tear down. In more vacant minds, the term “Orientalist” has come to mean “enemy” and Westerners interested in discovering Arab and Islamic culture viewed with hostility.
It is appalling when Westerners overheard speaking Arabic in places as far afield as Aswan or Fez or Jerusalem or seen to be taking an interest in local culture are accused menacingly of being “Orientalists”. It happens. To suggest that an American or European who is interested in the Middle East or who takes the trouble to learn Arabic does so for devious reasons, that he only wants to know about Arabs and Muslims so as to control them is nonsense. Islamophobia and Arabophobia are serious problems in today’s global village. Ultimately they lead not only to affronts like the Danish cartoons but all the way to the continued absence of a Palestinian state. These phobias are not the result of an academic conspiracy; they flow from Western ignorance of Arab and Muslim culture. It is a two-way process. There is ignorance too among Arabs and Muslims of the West. Westerners should be encouraged to learn Arabic and discover the rich history of Islamic culture. Imagine the difference in attitude if officials in Washington or London were as familiar with Arabic as they are with French or Spanish. The bigots of both sides want the walls between the Muslim world and the West to be reinforced. Those walls need to be leveled. Dialogue depends on it. Without dialogue there cannot be a peaceful world. Orientalism needs to be encouraged; Occidentalism too. A Westerner speaking Arabic in Aswan or Fez should be congratulated, not viewed with suspicion.
