The mindset of the orientalism: East, Islam and Ottoman

It is a well known fact that many discussions were held on orientalism in many aspects, with the effect of the relevant thesis in Edward W. Said's work Orientalism, published in 1978. While some of these discussions aim to support/develop Said's thesis directly or indirectly, some of them contain criticism of it from various aspect. This study includes a critical background reading of orientalism from the perspective of sociology of knowledge and in this way aims to contribute to E. Said's orientalism thesis. Throughout the text, while it has been tried to defend the validity of E. Said's thesis, it has been also tried to develop the possibilities of dealing with orientalism from a critical perspective by drawing attention to some problems regarding the theoretical basis of the thesis and its content. In this context, the study seeks to answer the question of what orientalism might correspond to, when subjected to a critical background reading that references the theoretical, historical and social foundations of it. After the text revealed what orientalism corresponds to from the perspective of sociology of knowledge, its view of The East, Islam and the Ottoman, along with the background and reality of this view were discussed. On this basis, the study suggests that the concept is a holistic knowledge system that dominates the mindset of modern Western society and that orientalism historically should be considered within especially the framework of Ottoman reality, contrary to the perspectives that limit orientalism as a scientific-academic field of study.