Orientalism Audiobook By Edward Said cover art

Orientalism

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Orientalism

By: Edward Said
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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This landmark book, first published in 1978, remains one of the most influential books in the Social Sciences, particularly Ethnic Studies and Postcolonialism. Said is best known for describing and critiquing "Orientalism", which he perceived as a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. In Orientalism Said claimed a "subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture." He argued that a long tradition of false and romanticized images of Asia and the Middle East in Western culture had served as an implicit justification for Europe and the US' colonial and imperial ambitions. Just as fiercely, he denounced the practice of Arab elites who internalized the US and British orientalists' ideas of Arabic culture. Peter Ganim's narration gives the work an elegant and knowledgable voice.

©1978 Edward Said (P)2010 Audible, Inc. Asia Middle East Politics & Government World Inspiring Iran China Middle Ages Africa Socialism

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Will argued with diamond-solid citations and centuries of examples. The quintessential place to start in decolonising your understanding of history.

THE work on Orientalism

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Very much worth reading to give important context to the events of today The history has been told through biased Western lens.

Timeless classic

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Where does Orientalism rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The combination of a deeply researched text and skillful narration propels this work to my favourites shelf.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I had an extreme reaction in the fact that the book was incredibly enlightening, philosophically and academically (not that those two categories are always distinct).

Any additional comments?

Prepare to be challenged while reading and then continue to challenge previously held worldviews after you've finished.

Groundbreaking and amazing

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A well researched history of the study of the near east from a perspective outside of colonial and western biases. A bit too detailed at times, and sometimes condescending, but overall a very informative book.

An Exhaustive Analysis

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The book is an excellent, thorough, and in my opinion very fair review of the history of orientalism. It's easy to point out the abuses of colonialism and the racist views of individuals. What Said did was write a much more nuanced and scholarly work on the growth of Orientalism as a field, those who contributed to it, and its effects on public perception. The narrator was excellent as well. I think that anyone who can go into this and put aside the impulses and prejudices that we are all encouraged to form by the role of orientalism in the modern west will enjoy the learning experience.

My one major complaint is that, especially early in the book, there are many sometimes very lengthy quotations in French (and I believe at least once in German) that are not translated or explained. I do not speak French, so having a two minute quotation in it is totally lost on me. Perhaps it was explained in a way that I didn't quite catch due to the format, but it's good to know going in.

Very thorough study on Orientalism

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Thank you! THANK YOU!!
I want to thank you, Audible, for give scholars the opportunity to have their books in audio.
Edward Said deserves it.
I am really looking forward for the next publications. I hope there's more Edward Said coming!!
Please, the Audio Book field have reached an academic level that you, Audible, has the responsibility to fill this gap. More Academic Books! Please! and "Bravo" for Edward Said!

Wonderful! Epic! We need more like this around!

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Lacking a fluency in French will make this book rather frustrating at times, as the reader is without subtitles or translation.

For the non French listeners

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Not sure how I missed reading this as an undergraduate majoring in history, but maybe that's the point. Said's classic, which includes an updated foreword and afterword, details the growth but more important, the odd persistence of the scholarly field called Orientalism. Said, a scholar at Colombia who was a lifelong advocate for the Palestinian cause (he was born in Bethlehem during the British Mandate and immigrated to US as a teenager), presents a convincing portrait of the pattern of primarily Western (especially British and American) scholars who for a variety of motives present a portrait of the "Oriental" world which is simplistic and stereotyped. Indeed, while many of the names are familiar (T.E. Lawrence, Rudyard Kipling, Bernard Lewis), many of the men are well-known only to the dedicated study of the Orient, particularly that part that comprises the Middle East. I urge anyone who wants to get a clearer understanding of why the rhetoric of Trump and his underlings is actually quite traditional to listen to this book. The reader does a good job in handling text that has quite a lot of extensive passages in French, German, and Arabic (some passages fortunately are translated) and has pleasant timbre.

Lastly, this book is controversial for many readers because it does portray Orientalists as almost without exception fundamentally biased against Arabs. What makes it controversial is in my mind the lack of criticism that the author had for the actions of some bad, and frankly, unIslamic, behavior (he manages a swipe at the fatwa against Salman Rushdie near book's end). To that criticism, Said makes the rejoinder that his point was not to show the history of the Middle East but how a single scholarly field came to be defined by the prejudiced polemics of its practicioners. Not an easy listen, but an important one.

Impressive Scholarly Insight

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Best narrator ever. His French Arabic and German were perfect. Unless someone else was doing it.

Narrator

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It was a very difficult book to finish since it covers a vast amounts of history of literature and having small knowledge of it made even harder for me. But, having this audio book helped me finish it.

Jin Lee

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