Why read Orientalism and Empire?

Book cover of Orientalism and Empire: North Caucasus Mountain Peoples and the Georgian Frontier, 1845-1917

Book description

The complex and troubled history of Russia's relationship with the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus.

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Topics

The Russian Empire

Genres

Political

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Why read it?

1 author picked Orientalism and Empire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Stephen Badalyan Riegg

Author

This compelling book applies Edward Said’s well-known framework of Orientalism to explain the contradictions of Russia’s imperial project among diverse North Caucasians as well as Georgians. Jersild gives one of the clearest examples of the elasticity of the concept of Orientalism when applied to a Russia that wasn’t confident in its own European identity.

Just as fascinating is his explanation of how and why Georgian intellectuals, in their turn, used Orientalist discourse to contrast themselves against Muslims in Russian eyes and thus secure their own position within the empire.

From Stephen's list on The best books to understand how the Russian Empire engaged the Caucasus.