Europe in the Mirror of the Orient

Abstract

The theme of this chapter is the idea of Europe as an expression of western civilisation. One of the central contentions of this book is that the idea of Europe found its most enduring expression in the confrontation with the Orient in the age of imperialism. It was in the encounter with other civilisations that the identity of Europe was shaped. Europe did not derive its identity from itself but from the formation of a set of global contrasts. In the discourse that sustained this dichotomy of Self and Other, Europe and the Orient were opposite poles in a system of civilisational values which were defined by Europe.