Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism

Edward Said's blaming the West and its "Orientalism" for all the problems of the Arab World has provided much fuel over the years for demagogues and refusniks throughout the middle east and has thus contributed to the continued backwardness of that region. His "victimization" mantra has been especially devastating to the Palestinians and their aspirations for statehood and international recognition. Since, by playing the "victimization" card and the scapegoat card, which is what Edward Said's "Orientalism" is all about, the peoples of that region have failed to see what is really wrong with their societies and have therefore failed to take any meaningful actions to remedy the situation. Anger towards the West (and the resultant terrorism) then becomes the only option. Sadly too many in the West, especially in academia, have also bowed down at the altar of Edward Said and elevated him to the status of prophet--or even deity--for telling them what they wanted to hear, which in turn has only provided all the more fuel for the victimizationers and scapegoaters in the middle east. However, Ibn Warraq brilliantly puts everything into perspective and totally demolishes Said's thesis. If one does nothing else they should read chapter 8 "The Pathological Niceness of Liberals, Antimonies, Paradoxes, and Western Values." While the entire book is most noteworty, chapter 8 should be required reading by every person in the West who has any desire at all to see our civilization survive the 21st century. To sum up, the research that went into this book is mind boggling, and every point he makes is thoroughly documented. Scholarly, yet accessible to the non-scholar.

It's obvious by the length and scope of this book that Ibn Warraq wants to shut up the Said-ians for good. He painstakingly looks at every orientalist that Said critiques and shows his caricatures to be seriously misleading. This is one thorough rebuttal, but I can hardly keep the separate biographies apart in my head! Herein lies the weakness: the book is a deluge of information. I would have been content with one or two high profile examples, but Ibn Warraq does far more than that. And all for naught, since I suspect that Warraq's careful approach will resonate less in academia than the shrill cries of pseudo-victim hood. One thing that does stand out to me from this book is the comparison between Western imperialism and near-Eastern (that is to say Islamic) imperialism. The Islamic countries took more African slaves than the Europeans did (the poor Africans, they never get a break!) Jihads have also murdered tens of millions of Hindus. Westerners did (and do) terrible things, things that we should not try to explain away or downplay, but their imperialism often came with a silver lining, at least. British involvement in India is one example. Here, scholars (those cursed Orientalists!) helped recover Buddhist and Hindu history, which was on the verge of being lost after centuries of Muslim rule. This book contains a lot of good information, but I have trouble putting my finger on the single thread that runs throughout this book. It seems more like a series of discreet chunks than a single narrative. For that I cannot give it the highest rating.

Edward Said, the Christian Palestinian, who represents the Dhimmi-type intellectual, achieved a great influence on the guilt ridden Western academia. The rightful antiimperialistic turn in the Sixties E. Said managed to divert into a self loathing of many progressives in the West. Thus, the universalist approach of the rebels in the Sixties changed to a relativism with disregard of basic human rights for everybody, be they located in the West or in the Orient. Ibn Warraq is able to show how prejudiced Said's views are, and that a Western critique of events in the Orient can be right and valuable. Said's description of Orientalism is just a defense of the indefensible in which the burqa of the Afghan woman could be praised as a protection against lustful male eyes and desires, not seeing or expressing the male chauvinistic and oppressive nature of such a garment. Ibn Warraq did a great job in criticizing Said step by step in every detail. Hopefully, he succeeded in opening the eyes of some of Said's admirers.

The late Edward Said often intimidated his critics with the false charge of racism. He more then hinted that only those who perceived dark skinned people to be inferior might possibly disagree with his conclusions. Ibn Warraq brilliantly shows him to have been an intellectually shallow and not altogether honest writer. At the very best, to be blunt, Said was a second rate mediocrity. He took full advantage, however, of the politically correct cultural zeitgeist dominating our so-called best universities. It is also very fair to accuse Said of slandering great scholars merely for being white skinned Westerners. The author takes him to task in a very careful and detailed manner. This book is not in any way a cheap shot attack on the memory of Edward Said. I dare anyone to find even one substantial mistake in the entire book.

It needs no defense

I purchased Ibn Warrag's 490-page (excluding bibliography) tome in 2007, when it was first published. I have dipped into it regularly, using it more as a reference source than anything else over the years, but it is only recently that I have read it cover to cover. I have not read Edward Said's 'Orientalism' (to which, Warraq is the antidote) but was aware of it through academic friends who had been required to use it in their studies. Said's book is reflective of a particular kind of political culture, one designed to induce an apologetic, defensive, self-immolating intellectual mindset in the West, one of dhimmitude. Why am I writing a review now? Well, one reason is because, having now read the book cover to cover, I find that I do 'get' it, and I do consider it a compendious and well-researched work. It is not 'perfect' - there are moments when Warrag's genuine anger at the intellectual vandalism of Said gets the better of him, but having said that, the kind of misrepresentation that he is seeking to address is not morally neutral, since it was designed to emasculate and hamper the West's response to islamisation. The second reason to review the book is the nature of a cluster of highly negative reviews - most of which indicate only a superficial acquaintance with the content, or comprise a loosely-parsed collection of ad-hominems. In the current environment, fostered by media-induced ignorance, our default setting is one of unreserved, wall-to-wall repentance for every possible vestige of the West's colonial past. Warraq's contribution is to remind us that Edward Said's reductionism is as misleading as it is simplistic. In the process, he introduces much-needed balance to the story of slavery, and the way in which British rule rescued Indian culture from destruction under centuries of islamic iconoclasm. There are clearly lessons to be learned, but also a celebration of 'other' culture for its own sake, as well as a restating of the value of men and women who gladly gave their lives to rescue oriental cultures which were in a state of terminal decline. Overall, the book is well-researched, and admirably footnoted. For the independent student, it provides a wealth of references for further investigation. Whilst I could have done with a clearer and more succinct, as well as a less rancorous analysis of Said's egregious work, I give it five stars because, overall, Warraq has achieved his goal, namely 'The Defence of the West'. Which, right now, is just what we need.

Alas, I wish I had read this wonderful book so many years ago, when Said (like that other notorious fraud, Foucault) was all the fashion. The author demolishes Said's arguments.

Another excellent counterweight to postmodernist and 'orientalist' critiques.

Said's 'Orientalism' is a racist, inaccurate tract of suspect scholarship. This book is a splendid riposte. well written and interesting, readers familiar with Said will find this book a splendid revelation. Great read! MUST BUY!