Edward Said’s Orientalism and the Study of Self and Other in Tahereh Mafi’s A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Following Edward Said’s Orientalism , the “self” is associated with Westerners, particularly, those whose skin color is white and enjoy positive characteristics such as normalcy, familiarity and order. Alternatively, the “other” is associated with non-Westerners and is perceived to have negative features such as danger, strangeness and disorder. This essay aims at using Said’s critique of Orientalism to analyze the novel written by Tahereh Mafi, A Very Large Expanse of Sea , published in 2018. By adopting the Saidian perspective, this study aims at showing aspects of Islamophobia and power-saturated ideology and explain how the Oriental female character in the above novel is doubly otherized throughout the story, based on the concept of the self and the other. It also touches upon Said’s more complex arguments regarding institutional discourse and representation in the context of the narrative. It further shows how Mafi’s story strategically debunks the hegemonic Orientalist gaze through examining embodied trauma, agency and the politics of everyday resistance.