Native Orientalists in Pakistan

17 Pages Posted: 3 May 2012 Last revised: 6 May 2012

Date Written: May 3, 2012

Abstract

The Orientalist enterprise of Western writers has received a great deal of critical attention since the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism in 1978. As Western academics have learned to bring more objectivity and empathy to their study of the Islamicate, a growing number of Muslim academics, novelists and journalists – in their home countries and the diaspora – have started looking at themselves through new Orientalist constructs that serve the interests of Western powers. This native Orientalism was a minor affair during the Cold War but it has grown dramatically since the launching of the West’s so-called global war against terror. This essay examines the manner in which native Orientalists in Pakistan – writing mostly in the English language – have been supporting America’s so-called global war against terror.

Keywords: Native Orientalists, Native Informers, Native Informants, Neocolonialism, Edward Said, Dabashi, Pakistan, Newspapers, Global War Against Terror, Islam, Afghanistan, Taliban, Fanon, Cesaire, Brown Sahibs, British, Britain, United States

Suggested Citation

Alam, Mohammad Shahid, Native Orientalists in Pakistan (May 3, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2050547 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2050547

Mohammad Shahid Alam (Contact Author)

Northeastern University ( email )

220 B RP
Boston, MA 02115
United States

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