Edward Said's monumental work, Orientalism, published in 1978, fundamentally reshaped the fields of literary criticism, postcolonial studies, and cultural theory. Said meticulously exposes how the 'Orient' was constructed by the West as a mysterious, exotic 'other,' often through academic scholarship, literature, and art, to justify colonial expansion and maintain power imbalances. He argues that this 'Orientalist' discourse is not merely a collection of falsehoods, but a pervasive system of thought that has shaped Western perceptions and policies towards the Middle East and Asia for centuries. The book remains a crucial text for understanding the interplay of knowledge, power, and representation.