Write an analytical essay about Orientalism and the Other

Write an analytical about Orientalism and the Other - Essay Example The article is well organized, first telling the reader what might be expected and then proceeding to discuss each of these items in turn. This helps to improve his argument because it seems straightforward. In his discussion regarding the ideas of Orientalism, for example, he traces the way in which social scientists have gradually become more aware of how their own culture colors perceptions of various elements of other cultures and their language reinforces the East/West dichotomies that foster continued flawed perception. His analysis of the writings of Max Weber regarding the Orient reveals exactly what he means when he says the very vocabulary of the sciences are guilty of reflecting the Orientalist approach. â€Å"He [Weber] contrasted the ‘sensual’ East with the ‘rational’ West, where denial of luxury was upheld by the Protestant church.† From this understanding of Weber’s focus, he then moves forward to trace this thought through the history of Orientalist criticism. â€Å"The first stage developed in the late 1950s and early 60s as Oriental Studies departments in the US, USSR and UK were reorganized,† while the second stage started with protests published by individuals from within the ‘oriental’ culture primarily championed by Abdel-Malek in the 60s and 70s. The third stage of this aspect of social theory development is identified by Walker as being the publication of Edward Said’s book Orientalism. Throughout, he demonstrates how the ideas of Marxism were frequently adopted by these critics as a means of overcoming some of the more glaring issues. As this discussion progresses, Walker manages to also demonstrate how the language itself poses a problem through asides such as â€Å"The terms ‘Third World’ and ‘non-Western’ are both culturally loaded and s uggest a dichotomy were there is, increasingly, not one.† This aspect of the