"That's the power of the discourse of Orientalism. If you're thinking about people and Islam, and about that part of the world. those are the words you constantly have to use. To think past it, to go beyond it, not to use it, is virtually impossible, because there is no knowledge that isn't codified in this way about that part of the world." Edward Said

The 'orient' of the title and the quote above refers to Islamic cultures in general in their myriad variety from the Middle to the Far East. A Palestinian American and student of Middle Eastern history and culture as well as western involvement in both, Professor Said stresses the need in the West for recognizing and overcoming media-inspired stereotypes that are founded in 'colonial'-era thinking. He stresses that the Western tendency to adopt the providers of 'news' as a source of knowledge about other cultures as well as the basis for our interactions with them is very limiting and ultimately dangerous.

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