Postcolonialism is the academic study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism.

Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world.

However, orientalism is also the link between culture, imperial power and colonialism.

” Orientalism was what he described as a form of Western imperialism that the East had been subjected to since Colonial times. Said talks of the earlier Orientalist writers who never seemed to capture the true nature of the Orient. They wrote or painted the stereotypes that had been a custom by others to record. ”

This quote above is taken from an online essay on the concept of orientalism, and in a simpler way shows how stereotypes and idea`s about certain cultures have been formed, taking note of research by Edward Said.

Edward Said:

“The power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism.”Culture and Imperialism, 1993: xii.

Both Orientalism, written in 1978, and Culture and Imperialism; 1993, are key etxts that have been written by Edward Said.

“In this view, the outlying regions of the world have no life, history or culture to speak of, no independence or integrity worth representing without the West.” Said, 1993: xxi .

Louis Althusser:

French philosopher Louis Althusser developed the ideological state apparatus (ISA), a theoretical concept which is used to describe the way in which structures of civic society serve to structure the ideological perspectives of society, which form our individual subject identity.

Althusser said: “The category of the subject . . . is the category constitutive of all ideology.” This on a simpler level means that we are controlled by our social constructs which is “the ideology of the ruling class”.

Frantz Fanon:

• The wretched of the earth.
• French West Indian psychiatrist and political philosopher.
• “Brought up out of the depths of his memory; old legends will be reinterpreted.”

Antonio Gramsci:

• Negotioation and consent.
• Certain cultural forms predominate over others, which means that certain ideas are more influential than others.
• Dominant ideas, attitudes and beliefs are slowly, subtly woven into our very being.

Paul Gilroy:

• Double Consciousness.
• His concept of double consciousness involves ‘Black Atlantic’ striving to be both European and Black through their relationship to the land of their birth and their ethnic political constituency.