Hichem Djaït and the Orientalists

Abstract

Orientalism is a multidisciplinary theory that reflects Western knowledge of the East, which Edward Said considers a Western fabrication, not a geographical space, but as a different cultural mentality. Djaït embarked upon orientalism as an intellectual current that emerged during the Middle Ages, reaching its zenith in the nineteenth century. He differentiated between the various intellectual currents within Orientalism, then differentiated between Latin European Orientalism, especially the French current influenced by colonialism, and German philosophy that dealt with Islam without negative preconceptions. Furthermore, Djaït gathered extensive knowledge of the writings of academic Orientalists on Islam by adopting modern research methods from the 19th century to evaluate their ideas on many issues, supporting some, correcting others, and discarding the rest. Here, it is necessary to mention Djaït’s pivotal role in passing on his knowledge about orientalist thought and thinkers to Tunisian University students through his lessons and writings.