In What Ways Does What Edward Said Calls Orientalism Affect Art and Art History - Essay Example

In What Ways Does What Edward Said Calls Orientalism Affect Art and Art History? Orientalism, which refers to an artistic replication or portrayal of the different aspects of the great culture of the East in the art and literature of the West, was given new layers of meaning by the 20th century post-colonialist scholar Edward Said. Orientalism may well be comprehended as the tendency of the Western writers, designers and artists to depict and imitate the significant elements of the Eastern culture and tradition through the artistic and literary means. Edward Said, in his controversial but important book Orientalism in 1978, enhances the meaning and scope of Orientalism which has created enormous discussions in art history as well as literary theory. Said’s Orientalism was important in the creation of post-colonialism in art history as well as literary theory and he was instrumental in the new understanding of the term Orientalism. Whereas several other writers and thinkers had written histories of empire and colonialism, most of these writings were not post-colonial as they still proceeded from the point of view of the centre rather than the margin. The publication of Said’s Orientalism was central to the exact awareness of the concept and this work marks the opening of post-colonialism. The definition of the term Orientalism by Edward Said suggests the originality of the subject dealt in his book. According to the straightforward definition of the term, Orientalism refers to an academic specialisation and it is a topic studied by the archaeologists, historians, theologians and others in the West, who are concerned with Middle Eastern and North African cultures. However, Edward Said gives new meanings and interpretations to the term when adds two further meaning to the term. “Orientalism is also something more general, something that has shaped Western thought since Greeks, at least: namely, a way of dividing up the world between the West and the East. What appears to be simple geographical fact is, says Said, actually an idea. The division of the world into these two parts is not a natural state of affairs, but an intellectual choice made by the West in order to define itself. The third meaning for Orientalism is more historically specific. Since the latter part of the eighteenth century, when European colonialism in the Middle East developed most fully, Orientalism has been a means for domination, a part of the colonial enterprise. Said argues that colonialism is not about the physical acts of taking land, or subjugating people, but is also about the intellectual acts.” (Hatt and Klonk, 226) Therefore, Said’s Orientalism and the concept of Orientalism played a major role in the understanding of the East-West controversy and it considerably influenced the study of art and art history. According to Edward Said Orientalism is a term that explains the academic as well as artistic Western tradition concerning intimidating and deprecatory views of the East. At the heart of such frightening and deprecatory views of the East are the attitudes of European imperialism during the 18th and 19th centuries. “Edward Said established the theoretical foundations for post-colonial studies by identifying how the West has characterised the East as the other since the Enlightenment. In all forms of cultural endeavour and enterprise, Europeans created the concept of an inferior Orient opposed to a superior West. The boundaries between East and West have provided the locus for artistic hybrids and appropriations since classical times. In recent centuries, non-Western art has been perceived as exotic, dangerous, erotic and primitive.” (Pooke and Newall, 211-12) Orientalism, as a term in art history, refers predominantly to the works of French artists in the 19th century, who selected the subject matter, colour and style of their art works from the cultures of the Mediterranean nations and the Near East. Several critics and scholars in the field consider Orientalism as essentially an art history term. “For many, Orientalism is essentially an art history term. In this guise it often has a relatively restricted meaning, relating to the paintings of a specific group of nineteenth-century and mainly French artists who took North Africa and the Middle East as the subject matter. During the past fifteen years, the period of the rediscovery of Orientalist painting, the term has sometimes been extended to the very large number of artists who produced representations of the Orient, including South Asia and the Far East, between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries.” (MacKenzie, 43 Therefore, Orientalism had important influence on the study of art and art history, and it enormously affected academia and the western art during the romantic period of the Orientalism movement. In the beginning of his work, Said examines the scope of Orientalism and the roots of the field in pre-modern Europe. According to him, Orientalism is extraordinarily broad a movement which covers the various aspects of history, geography, sociology, art and anthropology. The concept of ‘the other’ is the most essential unit of the conception of the Orient to be studied, known and controlled. “By creating an imaginative history and geography of the Orient, they assigned virtues beyond the empirical to produce a limited and limiting vocabulary to describe the East, a discourse full of crude stereotypes. As these textual imaginings on the Orient gained in number and authority, they became embedded in scholarship even when the reality could not match the construct. As the nineteenth century began, academia became increasingly secularized and focused upon the “scientific,” yet the set of structures of Orientalism already created were merely reformulated and laicized.” (Edward W. Said, Orientalism) In his book, Said examines these structures and illustrates the examples of prominent Orientalists to illustrate his argument and academia played an important role in shaping Orientalist structures. In conclusion, Orientalism by Edward Said, which is the most influential work in post-colonial studies, had an important influence on the study of art and art history, apart from its influence on academia and the western art during the romantic period of the Orientalism movement. The concept of Orientalism reflects post-colonialist ideas of the West and had a great influence on the study of art and art history. Orientalism, which refers to the style of art associated with the Orientalist artists of the 19th-century who depicted harem girls, sheikhs and Middle-Eastern scenery, is essential concept in the understanding of the art history of the West in an effective way. There are several examples of the influence of Orientalism on the study of art and art history and it affected academia as well as western art during the romantic period. Works Cited “Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage 1979).” 29 Apr, 2009. . Hatt, Michael and Charlotte Klonk. Art history: a critical introduction to its methods. London: Manchester University Press. 2006. P 22. Pooke,Grant and Diana Newall. Art History: The Basics. London: Routledge. 2007. P 211-12. MacKenzie, John M. Orientalism: History, Theory, and the Arts. London: Manchester University Press. 1995. P 43. Read More