The works presented here intend to carry out a study of the book Orientalism: the East as an invention of the West by Edward W. Said, interpreting it as an open essay reconsiders humanist tradition. The objective is to highlight literary criticism as a way of doing cultural research. Furthermore, it should be noted that the discussion to be accommodated in the lines of this text does not deal with lineages — heirs and successors — but rather with an investigation of the event, that is, the publication of a work that becomes more potent when read. My staring point corresponds to the interpretations that Said makes of his own ideas after the reception of his book in intellectual spaces. In view of this, I want to show that his writing comprises a political investment in the sense of producing ideology. Finally, my hypothesis lies in the perspective that his configuration as an author of Orientalism book can be interpreted by the final path to event arrives: the place of exile.