The Limits of Orientalism: Seventeenth-Century Representations of India challenges recent postcolonial readings of European, and particularly English, representations of India in the seventeenth century. The book critiques Edward Said's discourse of 'Orientalism' by destabilizing the notion of a homogeneous 'West': the English interest was commercial, unlike the colonially and religiously motivated Portuguese, and therefore instead of representing Mughals as barbaric 'others,' the English travelers drew parallels between the Mughals and themselves in their writings, associating with them as partners in trade and potential allies in war. The Europeans praised Muslims' civility and religious tolerance, yet tended to be more conflicted with the Hindus, but eventually their negative views underwent a transformation, questioning the Orientalist notion of the homogeneous 'Indian.' By historicizing the European representations of India, the book undercuts postcolonial analyses by critics such as Kate Teltscher, Jyotsna Singh, Nandini Bhattacharya, Balachandra Rajan, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Shankar Raman and others.

A groundbreaking critique of the West's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East that is—three decades after its first publication—one of the most important books written about our divided world. "Intellectual history on a high order ... and very exciting." —The New York Times In this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, Said traces the origins of "orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined "the orient" simply as "other than" the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding.

At a crucial moment in the history of relations of East and West, Orient and Occident, Christianity and Islam, Orientalism provides a timely account of the subject and the debate. In the 1960s and 1970s a powerful assault was launched on 'orientalism', led by Edward Said. The debate ranged far beyond the traditional limits of 'dry-as-dust' orientalism, involving questions concerning the nature of identity, the nature of imperialism, Islamophobia, myth, Arabism, racialism, intercultural relations and feminism. Charting the history of the vigorous debate about the nature of orientalism, this timely account revisits the arguments and surveys the case studies inspired by that debate.

Robert Irwin’s history of Orientalism leads from Ancient Greece to the present. He shows that, whether making philological comparisons between Arabic and Hebrew, cataloguing the coins of Fatimid Egypt or establishing the basic chronology of Harun al-Rashid’s military campaigns against Byzantium, scholars have been unified not by politics or ideology but by their shared obsession. For Lust of Knowing is an extraordinary, passionate book, both a sustained argument and a brilliant work of original scholarship.

_______________ 'Edward Said had a lifelong passion for music, and possessed the rare ability to write about it for the general reader with a lucid and penetrating intelligence' - TLS 'There are few whose command of words is sufficient not only to illuminate music, but to help music illuminate the world of those who make and listen to it. Said was one' - Daily Telegraph 'The sheer eloquence of Said's writings reminds us that with his untimely death we have lost one of our most distinguished music critics.' - Maynard Solomon, The Julliard School _______________ WITH A FOREWORD BY DANIEL BARENBOIM Music at the Limits brings together three decades of Edward W. Said's essays and articles on music. Addressing the work of a wide variety of composers and performers, Said analyses music's social and political contexts, and provides rich and often surprising assessments. He reflects on the censorship of Wagner in Israel; the relationship between music and feminism; and the works of Beethoven, Bruckner, Rossini, Schumann, Stravinsky and others. Always eloquent and often surprising, Music at the Limits reinforces Said's reputation as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. _______________ 'This fine collection by one of the most perceptive music critics of the last half-century is highly recommended' - Library Journal

Acknowledging the significance of Edward Said’s Orientalism for contemporary discourse, the contributors to this volume deconstruct, rearrange, and challenge elements of his thesis, looking at the new conditions and opportunities offered by globalization. What can a renewed or reconceptualized Orientalism teach us about the force and limits of our racial imaginary, specifically in relation to various national contexts? In what ways, for example, considering our greater cross-cultural interaction, have clichés and stereotypes undergone a metamorphosis in contemporary societies and cultures? Theoretically, and empirically, this book offers an expansive range of contexts, comprising the insights, analytical positions, and perspectives of a transnational team of scholars of comparative literature and literary and cultural studies based in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, USA, Singapore, Taiwan, and Turkey. Working with, through and beyond Orientalism, they examine a variety of cultural texts, including the novel, short story, poetry, film, graphic memoir, social thought, and life writing. Making connections across centuries and continents, they articulate cultural representation and discourse through multiple approaches including critical content analysis, historical contextualization, postcolonial theory, gender theory, performativity, intertextuality, and intersectionality. Given its unique approach, this book will be essential reading for scholars of literary theory, film studies and Asian studies, as well as for those with a general interest in postcolonial literature and film.

Orientalism and Literature discusses a key critical concept in literary studies and how it assists our reading of literature. It reviews the concept's evolution: how it has been explored, imagined and narrated in literature. Part I considers Orientalism's origins and its geographical and multidisciplinary scope, then considers the major genres and trends Orientalism inspired in the literary-critical field such as the eighteenth-century Oriental tale, reading the Bible, and Victorian Oriental fiction. Part II recaptures specific aspects of Edward Said's Orientalism: the multidisciplinary contexts and scholarly discussions it has inspired (such as colonial discourse, race, resistance, feminism and travel writing). Part III deliberates upon recent and possible future applications of Orientalism, probing its currency and effectiveness in the twenty-first century, the role it has played and continues to play in the operation of power, and how in new forms, neo-Orientalism and Islamophobia, it feeds into various genres, from migrant writing to journalism.