peer review classmates answer about Edward Said, Orientalism

I‌‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍ have two colleagues peer reviews. each peer review should have 135 words.you have to‌‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍ answer each peer review. Be thoughtful and use critical thinking skills when replyin‌‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‌‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‌‍g

Q:Our course began with exploring histories through Edward W. Said’s landmark postcolonial text Orientalism, which analyzes dynamics of hegemony, power, knowledge, imagination, and representation in ways that challenge how we think and know about the world. What are two of the most significant ways in which this text has impacted how you think and know about the world?

First peer review: 135 words

It is significant to note that Orientalism has played a pivotal role in challenging Eurocentric perspectives that have dominated Western mindset and discussions about the East. Edward Said argues that misrepresentation and misinterpretation of the East particularly in academia and literature have never been objective but rather shaped by power dynamics and the desire to maintain dominance. Furthermore, Said does an excellent job of exposing biases, stereotypes and power dynamics ingrained in Orientalist discourse. Said’s work also draws attention to the interplay between power and knowledge, especially in the context of colonialism and imperialism. He prompts his readers to critically examine how knowledge is constructed, who holds the power to shape this so-called knowledge, and the implications this has for the marginalized “Other.” Prevailing narratives and misinterpretations are questioned, and a more nuanced understanding of East/West relationship is encouraged.  Abu-Shomar's article, through the lens of Orientalism of course, helps his readers search for a balanced understanding of power dynamics and knowledge production between the East/West; questioning the ways in which knowledge is produced, power is exercised, and identities constructed.  

Said, E. W. (1977). Orientalism. Routledge & Kegan Paul ltd.

Abu-Shomar, A. (2017). Worldliness, Orientalism, Diaspora and Humanism: The Epistemological Radiance of Edward Said’s Scholarship. Interdisciplinary Literary Studies

 Second  peer review: 135 words

The East has always been a difficult concept for the West to understand. So much so, it took Orientalists to create their own study to help themselves and the rest of the Occident to comprehend the culture, language, and religions. This, of course, was a bigoted comprehension led by preconceived notions and intense subjectivity, whether intended or not. For example, I was shocked to have read Edward Said’s analysis on many texts, but mostly Dante’s Inferno and the ignorance that encompassed within. Said summarizes it best: “ the discriminations and refinements of Dante’s poetic grasp of Islam are an instance of the schematic, almost cosmological inevitability with which Islam and its designated representatives are creatures of Western geographical, historical, and above all, moral apprehension.” 1 This “Oriental vision” as Said calls it, held its ground. We see the oriental visionary make its way through literature, media, political speeches, and breaking news. Beforehand, I understood it as Islamophobia or simple racism, but now coining the phrase makes it easier for me to distinguish it.The characters of this “closed system in which objects are what they are because they are what they are” 2 explains why no one from the Occident has tried to break this oriental vision- it wasn’t meant to broken. The Occident placed themselves at the highest level of intellect and purity, and this limited them for most of history to explain, study, or even understand anything that was out of their scope of identity. Victor Li discusses cosmopolitan humanism and how to do it right: “It is a cosmopolitanism based on the individual’s adoption of a point of view external to or even alienated from her own cultural, religious, or ethnic origins and her desire to see her identity as never completely secured but accompanied by a necessary self-distancing and self-criticism.” 3 And Oriental works, such d’Herbelot’s Bibliothèque Orientale, serve as the epitome of what cosmopolitan humanism does not look like.

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