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Introduction to orientalism by edward said summary
Orientalism summary introduction
Introduction to orientalism
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One of the most polarizing criticisms of Western society is the theory that Western bias has led to a misrepresentation of Middle Eastern culture. Columbia professor Edward Said initiated discussion about this controversial topic in 1978 through his book Orientalism. The term Orientalism has come to represent portrayals of the Middle East which have been affected by Western social influence. Said describes Orientalist thinking and it’s impact stating;
Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between "the Orient" and (most of the time) "the Occident." Thus a very large mass of writers, among whom are poets, novelists, philosophers, political theorists, economists, and im-perial administrators, have accepted the basic distinction between East and West… (Said, 1979, p. 3).
Here Said describes the purposeful differentiation between the East and West, and explains how such thinking has influenced multiple aspects of Western society. As Orientalist trains of thought have become accepted they are perpetuated by scholars, politicians, journalists and writers who create depictions of the Middle East which have been shaped by Orientalist preconceptions.Therefore the majority of literature dealing with the Middle East has been influenced by Western bias.
Since nearly all research is performed using Western logic There are several common representations of the East which can be found within academic literature. Said describes some of the stereotypes which are commonly depicted and how writers of the early 19th century have shaped Western attitudes toward the Middle East stating:
Every one of them kept intact the separateness of the Orient, its eccentricity, its backwardness, its silen...
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...stereotype of Arab violence. This trait is only found in the Egyptian characters as highlighted through comparison to the Germans within the film. While Dr. Jones often uses their violent behavior to defeat his Middle Eastern enemies we find that it is not a necessary element of the plot. Through brute force and quick thinking Jones is still able to defeat his Western opponents in the film. Thus we can assert that these distorted stereotypical portrayals of Arabs are due to Western Orientalist attitudes. This supports Said’s claim that common stereotypes can be found within all Western representations of the Middle East and proves that Orientalism is a pervasive issue within popular media.
Works Cited
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. London: Penguin, 2003.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Harrison Ford. Paramount, 1981. DVD.
Orientalism is the misconception by Westerners of foreign people from the “Orient.” It focuses on the differences between the East and the West, and it serves as a justification for imperialism because the West is depicted as superior to the East. Argo, a movie about the Iran-American conflict of 1979, is primarily set in the Middle East where all the inhabitants are wrongly depicted as full of mindless rage, screaming, irrational, and reasonless mobs. In 1891, French economist and journalist, Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, stated about the colonies of the Orient “a great part of the world is inhabited by barbarian tribes or savages, some given over to wars without end and to brutal customs, and others knowing so little of the arts and being so little accustomed to work and to invention that they do not know how to exploit their land and its natural riches. They live in little groups, impoverished and scattered.” Argo having strikingly similar depictions of Eastern people over a hundred years later raises the question “has the Western perspective of the East changed?” ...
According to Amin Maalouf, “It seems clear that the Arab East still sees the West as a natural enemy. Against that enemy, any hostile action-be it political, military, or based on oil-is considered no more than legitimate vengeance. And there can be no doubt that the schism between these two worlds dates from the Crusades, deeply felt by the Arabs, even today, as an act of rape” (Amin Maalouf). When reflecting on The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, this quote always sticks out as the most powerful piece of Maalouf’s work. As a growing college student this quote brings harsh reality to the world I live in. I believe as you grow through life, you become more and more aware of the world around you through education. In order to be aware you must be educated; The Crusades Through Arab Eyes has done just that by opening my eyes to a world and viewpoint I have never before considered.
Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2000.
Has the New York Times negatively stereotyped Arab Muslims for the past forty years? The goal of this research project is to reveal the negative stereotypes directed towards Arab Muslims in the New York Times. The critical focus of the research is the consistency of the negative stereotypes. The underlying focus is what theoretical and historical effects result from the negative stereotypes.
Movies, one can argue, are one of America’s greatest pastimes. Unfortunately, after 9/11, films have become increasingly prejudiced against American Muslims. In movies Muslims are frequently portrayed negatively. According to James Emery, a professor of Anthropology, Hollywood profits off of “casting individuals associated with specific negative stereotypes”. This is due to the fact that viewers automatically link characters with their clichéd images (Emery). For Muslims, the clichéd image is of the violent fundamentalist, who carried out the terroristic attacks on 9/11. As a result, the main stereotypes involved in movies display Muslims as extremists, villains, thieves, and desert nomads. An example of a movie that has such a negative character role for Muslims in film is Disney’s cartoon Aladdin, depict...
Do you think that the Islamic religion and the Middle East are only represented in a negative way? Well, this may be because of someone’s perspective. Marjane Satrapi’s perspective in her book Persepolis influences her opinions on nationalism, social/political awareness, and eventually causes her to lose her childlike innocence.
Orientalism, which became famous as a term after Edward Said’s book written in 1978, explains a power relation between the Orient and the Occident inspiring from the Foucault’s The Archeology of Knowledge and
“To say pan-Arabism is ‘dead’ would be inaccurate- because it was never ‘alive,’ in any meaningful sense, in the first place.” Assess viewpoints for and against this argument, with special reference to at least one appropriate country.
Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East: A History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Goldschmidt, Arthur, Jr. A concise History of the MIDDLE EAST. United States of America: Westview Press, 1999.
Orientalism as termed by Edward Said is meant to create awareness of a constellation of assumptions that are flawed and underlying Western attitudes towards the Muslim societies. Evidence from his 1978 book “Orientalism”, states that the culture has been of influence and marred with controversy in post colonial studies and other fields of study. Moreover, the scholarship is surrounded by somehow persistent and otherwise subtle prejudice of Eurocentric nature, which is against Islam religion and culture (Windschuttle, 1999). In his book, Said illustrates through arguments, that the long tradition in existence containing romanticized images of Islamic stronghold regions i.e. Middle East, and the Western culture have for a long time served as implicit justifications for the European and American Imperial ambitions. In light of this, Said denounced the practice of influential Arabs who contributed to the internalization of Arabic culture ideas by US and British orientalists. Thus, his hypothesis that Western scholarship on Muslim was historically flawed and essentially continues to misrepresent the reality of Muslim people. In lieu to this, Said quotes that, “So far as the United States seems to be concerned, it is only a slight overstatement to say that Muslims and Arabs are essentially seen as either oil suppliers or potential terrorists. Therefore, very few details such as human density, the passion of Arab-Muslim life has entered the awareness of even the people whose profession revolve around reporting of the Arab world. Due to this, we have instead a series of crude, essentialized caricatures of the Islamic world presented in such a way as to make that world vulnerable to military aggression” (Said, 1980).
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the Contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
Analysing The West: Unique, Not Universal. Throughout history, Western civilization has been an emerging force behind change in foreign societies. This is the concept that is discussed in the article, the West Unique, Not Universal, written by Samuel Huntington. The author makes a very clear thesis statement and uses a variety of evidence to support it. This article has a very convincing point.
Orientalism is a lens that people in the West look through to others that are different from themselves. Specifically People in the Middle East. It is a framework that we used to understand the unfamiliar and the strange. It is also known as stereotyping. Anti-Muslim sentiment and racism is a big problem in the United States. People can say things about Arab groups that they would never tolerate being said about other races. Even back in 1998 on the MTV music awards, the beastie boys made a comment to Americans about how they see and treat Arab and Muslim people and that being racist and stereotyping is not going to bring us to a solution.
The Middle East has come along way since the rise of civilization thousands of years ago. Civilization emerged in the Middle East and northeast Africa along the river systems as agricultural societies grew in population and developed new forms of social organization. For the last two thousands years the west has been drawn to the middle east fascinated by the culture, religion, resources and politics. The Middle East has an immense impact on the world globally. My goal in this paper is to explain the ancient and modern significance of the Middle East and how it impacts the world in such a globalizing way.