부산대학교 도서관

This article describes critiques on orientalism as well as appreciates orientalist works which have positive values in Islamic studies that requires “reassessment”. This is because orientalism is a distinctive discipline that has a strong historical value between the West and the East (Islam) after the medieval European renaissance. This discipline was initially used as a Western political tool to exploit the East—both aggression and imperialism. However this discipline deserves careful attention by removing prejudices-geopolitical and historical revenge in the orientalists’ objective judgments. The work produced by such orientalists cannot be solely underestimated. Some orientalists merely using a scientific or semi-scientific approach have continuously produced “magnum opus” and contributed to the development of Islamic studies such as Hadith index, Quranic dictionary, and Encyclopedia of Islam.