Orientalism: thirty years on. Introduction

Abstract

This dossier contains a series of articles inspired by Edward Said's concept of Orientalism. Together, the articles in the dossier show the importance of Said's contribution and defend the need to continue working to make it even more important and valid, both in the academic context and in terms of the social diffusion it deserves. With a common thematic thread -the perception of the other (Orient) from our perspective (Occident)- these articles shun the conception of East Asia as an independent "discipline" and treat it, on the contrary, as an object of study that must be tackled with methodological rigour from specific disciplines: history, thought, anthropology and literature. This should facilitate, on one hand, the possibility of putting forward arguments and observations that enrich already existing debates in each discipline by shedding new light on them and, on the other, social diffusion of these ideas on East Asia beyond limited circles.