Where is the 'Middle East'? : West-centric knowledge-power perception towards the ‘East’

Year 2019, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 482 - 489, 25.08.2019

Mehmet Akif Koç

https://doi.org/10.21600/ijoks.572942

Abstract

Historically, all cultural, geographical and political names, descriptions, definitions etc. clearly reflect intense categorization, political prejudice, cultural bias, and in general ‘otherization’ to a certain extent. Orientalism, as an influential political-cultural tradition, unambiguously reveals discriminating and arrogant Western stance regarding the rest of the world, particularly the ‘East’ and the Islamic world. This general trend, as a mainstream tradition, can easily be observed within the context of historical Western approach towards the using of the term ‘Middle East’. This paper aims at reviewing the term of ‘Middle East’ as an outcome of the Orientalist perspective both in cultural and political terms, and emphasizes the importance of using alternative ‘regionalist’ terms and concepts to describe the region’s contemporary realities.

Keywords

West-centric, Orientalism, Middle East, power, knowledge

What is the 'Middle East'? : Western-centric knowledge-power perception towards the ‘East’

Abstract

Historically, all cultural, geographical, and political names and descriptions have clearly reflected intense categorization, cultural bias, political prejudice, and, more generally, ‘otherization’ to a certain extent. Orientalism, as an influential political-cultural concept, unambiguously reveals a discriminatory and arrogant Western stance towards the rest of the world, particularly the ‘East’ and the Islamic world. This general idea, as a mainstream trend, can easily be observed within the context of historical Western usage of the term ‘Middle East’. This paper aims to review the term ‘Middle East’ as an outcome of the Orientalist perspective. It will do so in both cultural and political terms which clearly reveal the critical relationship between ‘power’ and ‘knowledge.’ It will also emphasize the importance of using alternative ‘regionalist’ terms to describe more contemporary realities.

Keywords

West-centric, orientalism, Middle East, power, knowledge

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