Orientalism

1.1 Knowing the Oriental

Said begins this chapter with the assertion that knowledge is a form of power. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries of colonial travel, the growing Western interest in texts from the Orient led to a desire to translate them. According to Said, this interest was never benign, as these translation projects quickly became a form of wielding power through knowledge of the Orient. Whoever produces and disseminates knowledge of The Orient also possesses the ability to dominate it. In the case of the British colonial presence in Egypt, British knowledge and perception of Egypt came to define the colonized country’s total identity, whereas Egyptians’ sense of their country was omitted. This prevalence of British knowledge was evident in Arthur James Balfour’s attitude towards Egyptians. Balfour, who was a British House of Commons official, believed that Egyptian self-government was not possible due to their people’s reliance on British administration for moral guidance. He also believed that Egyptians tacitly approved of British colonial occupation. These beliefs presumed the national affiliations and desires of Egyptians without actual consultation of their views. 

Said continues to argue that the West deploys Orientalism in several ways. For one, the West simultaneously positions itself as a “technician of empire” as well as a “beneficiary of Orientalism” (44).