Orientalism
Edward Said: 1935-2003
Wrote Orientalism (1979), a critique of the representation of
“the Orient” in Western scholarship (primarily French and
British).
The impact of this representation goes far
beyond the academy; the network of its
associations provides rationale for the
Western European and Anglo-American
colonial domination of the “Global
South.”
In its most general application,
“the Orient” represents everything that
“the Occident” is not. Orientalists
institutionalized the “us”versus “them”
colonial mentality.
Orientalism: A Definition
“The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe's
greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and
languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most
recurring images of the Other. In addition, the Orient has helped to define
Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality,
experience. Yet none of this Orient is merely imaginative. The Orient is an
integral part of European material civilization and culture” (Edward Said,
Orientalism [New York: Vintage Books, 1979], pp. 1-2).
“Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution
for dealing with the Orient - dealing with it by making statements about it,
authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over
it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, resturcturing,
and having authority over the Orient” (ibid., p. 3).
“Oriental” Associations
Negative:
sexual decadence, hollow faith, falsehood,
dangerously alluring, eroticism, moral corruption,
despotism, material extravagance, homosexuality,
feminine, fatalism, passivity, stasis
Positive:
colorful, sensual, beauty (exotic), contemplation, mysticism,
spirituality, faith, “family values,” anti-industrial, “spicy”
Orientalism in the Movies
What Does an Orientalist Look Like?