Review of 'Der wahre Poesie-Orient: eine Untersuchung zur Orientalismus-Theorie Edward Saids am Beispiel von Goethes West- Ostlichem Divan und der Lyrik Heines' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
He defines Orientalism in probably at least a dozen different ways and goes into great detail and nuance on what he means by it, but the essence is that a significant portion of the Western academic field of "orientalism" believes "the Orient" (mostly he focuses on Middle East, Islam, Arabs) to be racially and/or culturally inferior, and provides cover for Western imperialism. First British and French, then, after WWII, United States.
