A Passage to India and Orientalism

When in 1978 Edward W. Said published his book Orientalism, it presented a turning point in post-colonial criticism. He introduced the term Orientalism, and talked about 2 of its aspects: the way the West sees the Orient and the way the West controls the Orient. Said gave three definitions of Orientalism, and it is through these definitions that I will try to demonstrate how A Passage to India by E. M. Forster is an Orientalist text. First, Said defined Orientalism as an academic discipline, which flourished in 18th and 19th century.

Anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient - and this applies

whether the person is an anthropologist, sociologist, historian, or philologist -

either in its specific or its general aspects, is an Orientalist, and what he or she does

is Orientalism. (2)

Second, in Said's own words "Orientalism is a style of...