From Foucault to Postcolonialism: New Outlook into the Middle East

This research reviews Foucault’s idea about discourse and power, Said’s view about the Orient and Bhabha’s perception regarding stereotype. Benefitting from Foucault s ideologies, postcolonial theorists like Edward Said and Homi Bhabha illustrate how colonial discourse circulates. They insist that Western episteme on knowledge, science and understanding has empowered the Occident/ West to control and command the Orient/ East. Said’s insight toward Orientalism sheds light on how the occident represent and dominate the Orient politically, sociologically, militarily, ideologically, scientifically, and imaginatively in the past centuries whose effects are still prevalent. Bhabha builds on Said’s work linking Saidian and Foucauldian discursivity. This research illustrates how the discourse of marginalization is presented and how it shapes the postcolonial stereotype. The marginalization is portrayed by the colonial power over colonized nations. This research addresses one of the noticeable postcolonial issues: colonial discourse. It reveals that the representation of Middle Easterners is a continuation of Western accumulations of negative stereotypes and prejudices that are circulated for decades. It provides a detailed debate to describe postcolonial theory and colonial discourse.