 Since Orientalism 's publication in 1978 , Said has been praised as an " intellectual superstar " for his range of inquiry , drawing on literary theory , comparative literature , history , political commentary , cultural criticism and music criticism . Orientalism became a foundational text in the field of Post @-@ colonial studies for what Terry Eagleton called its " central truth ... that demeaning images of the east and imperialist incursions into its terrain have historically gone hand in hand . " One of the most influential book in this area is Postcolonial Theory written by Leela Gandhi , where the author explains from basic introduction about Postcolonial @-@ ism to how it can be made and shaped in the real history with wider philosophical and intellectual context of it . 
