Orientalism

Edward Said's landmark theoretical framework, introduced in his 1978 book, describing how Western scholarship, literature, and media have constructed a distorted, homogenized, and politically useful image of 'the East' that served colonial domination.

Established postcolonial critique as a major academic discipline; demonstrated that knowledge production is entangled with power; introduced the concept of the 'Other' as a construction that defines the West by contrast; foundational to cultural studies and identity politics.