I'll make several confessions to begin: I had no particular interest in "orientalism" in the Western (European) consciousness. I didn't know what "alteritist" was when I picked up the book. I saw it in a used book store, loved "erotic margin" and the new-to-me ideas of space and sexuality being related, and bought it in a Sunday afternoon book temple haze.
I am, however, a PR researcher for purpose-driven organizations by profession. I think A LOT about media analysis, the lack of accountability for the wide diversity of media's influences on our views of the world, and the propagation of narratives to control and liberate. So when I learn we're going to be learning about colonialism as narration, putting the erotic and popular at the center, I was thrilled.
Little did I know how relevant these patterns are. You know how after you watch a dancing movie you think you can really move? Or after playing a video game you almost feel like you have your HUD up everywhere? Once I started reading this, I saw the patterns EVERYWHERE. In how the Dutch in my Meetups talk about their fellow citizens of Moroccan dissent. In how Canadian politicians talk about trans rights advocates. In how White feminist spaces try to wrestle with racialization from a fearful distance.
In short, I'm saying I am not sufficiently or specifically educated to appreciate this book for all it is and says. But holy shit do I appreciate it with what I do have.