Edward Said on Orientalism - Term Paper Example

Your Edward said on Orientalism Edward Said is an internationally acclaimed of“Orientalism”. On Orientalism is a forty minutes video in which he explains the major themes of his book. Said’s idea of Orientalism refers to Western and European’s generalized and distorted understanding of Arabs and Muslims as inferior, underdeveloped and in today’s world as terrorists. Considering the idea that Arab is full of terrorists, Said argues that we are talking about almost 300 million people and there can be as many terrorists as in other oppressed nations. The major problem with Orientalism is that it makes vast generalizations about Muslims and Islam. In this paper, major themes of Said’s work are summarized in addition to discussion on Orientalism today and Palestinian question. The paper also recommends everyone to watch this movie in order to better understand the conflicting world and media representation. Said links Orientalism back to mid-nineteenth century when despite the presence of huge literature, it was nearly impossible to discuss Orient in an open and unbiased way. The elaborate representation of sensual women used by men, Orient as mysterious and full of secrets and monsters is in fact, highly unrealistic. People in Orient are living human beings who evolve with time, but western art, literature, media and movies assign them a timeless and eternal quality which was same even hundred years ago. The idea is not limited to media but penetrated in books as Said explains his discovery of Gerard de Nerval quoting Edward William Lane about modern Egyptian and their customs. Gerard may justify his quoting a 1830s reference for something as dynamic as culture by the theory that all orient are same irrespective of their location. This perception keeps reproducing the idea of timeless orient which remains the same, unlike west. Being unlike west automatically implies the opposite and generates imagery which is underdeveloped and inferior which Said regards as contradictory. Said not only puts forth the idea of Orientalism, but he provides a concrete historical and institutional background of this long established attitude. Said locates its construction in the imperial conquest when imperial powers were determined to conquer and subdue the natives not only in political but ideological manner. For this purpose, they followed already established categorization of people in large abstract classes based on the color of their skin, but Orientalism formalized the whole process and transformed it in objective knowledge. Said regards Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt as the starting point of modern expedition, but unlike other conquests, he focused on exploring Egyptian knowledge rather than loot. His scholars and historians recorded all aspects of Egyptian life in a scientific way which is intended to educate European people. Said further argues that understanding the natives is possible by living in the same region and using expert ways to record the local knowledge. The different kinds of Orientalism are there because of the difference in the kinds of experiences these imperial powers had with Middle East or the Orient. For instance, there is difference between American and British or French Orientalism. British and French Orientalism was more direct due to their direct experience with their colonial natives. On the other hand, American Orientalism is less direct due to indirect subjugation. Another difference is that American Orientalism is politicized due to the presence of Israel as American ally. American interest in Arab region’s oil and Israeli anti-Islamic tendency combine to form American kind of Orientalism. The imperialist interest is favored through popular media when we observe extensive coverage of Hamas killing Jewish children while Israeli hostility and Palestinian occupation is overlooked to the extent that it seems non-existent. In addition, Arabs are always portrayed as terrorists and irrational kind of people in movies. Said observes that it seems there is no problem except Hamas whose continuous efforts are to threaten Israeli “security”. Media never bothers to represent Palestinian right of self determination and their struggle for independence rather they are attributed as hostile and upsetting activities. Said observes that despite the antiracists law enforcement, it is not difficult to make generalized racist statements about Islam and Muslims. On the other hand, it is unlikely to happen in case of any other racial or ethnic group. This new American Orientalism threatens and demonizes Muslims as terrorists while Hollywood and popular media emphasize this image. Said acknowledges Middle Eastern terrorism but at the same time he is aware of the other aspects of this region. Stressing one negative aspect of this region represents everyone from the region as paranoid and fanatic. Said refers to Iranian revolution and seventeen years gap between his studying media coverage of Islam, and reveals the worsening situation in media coverage of Islam. It is the most threatening today as Islam has become identical to terror. Hollywood movies either present a cliché of Oriental image, such as Aladdin or as terrorists which are murdered by Hollywood stars in a brutal but justified manner. Media should leave this narrow policy and explore milder and humane sides of these people. Said’s argues that predominant quality of Arab society is its secularism while culture, language, and literature is distinctly different in all the Arab or Middle Eastern countries. Said negates the so-called independence of media and regard it as controlled by political and commercial interests. However, Arabs and Muslims don’t protect their interest because they are dominated by dictatorships which support US interests. Present day Orientalism holds an interesting persistence as Said regards it. He refers to Oklahoma City bombings in which media coverage consistently repeated governmental stance without digging out the fact or waiting for some proofs. Even author Steve Emerson pointed towards Middle Eastern efforts behind the incident. This highly outrageous and racist inference came to end when the actual culprit was proved to be American. Said regards Orientalism linked with Palestinian problem as the test of twentieth century. Overcoming the legacy of racism is the major task because it enforces the differentiation among people. Said believes that it is important to find the humane and peaceful solution of this issue. He puts forth the idea of peaceful co-existence of Muslims, Christians, and Jews which asks to get rid of generalizations and achieve an identity that is beyond differences. Orientalism Today (Opinion) Orientalism is present today in the form of Islamic representation in popular media as threatening and Muslims as terrorists. I personally feel that there is no doubt about presence of such forces in the region, but why 300 million innocent people should be represented as terrorist or violent. Media portrays the Muslims as bearded freaks who know nothing but violence and killings of particularly American. They do nothing but offer prayer, exploit the weak, and understand nothing logical. In films and even cartoons, this racist generalization is made. Superheroes are showed killing Arabs and Muslims and piling their bodies as if they are the ultimate evil. In addition, heroes easily pile up their bodies because they are too foolish and underdeveloped to judge the next move of a modern and tech savvy hero. Rich Middle Eastern culture, language, and a great Islamic civilization, and literature are never mentioned. Negative media representation not only undermine a whole nations position but also makes it difficult for western people to think of Muslims other than fanatic or violent people who are there to spread unrest on earth. It is easy to ask for an independent media but the underground forces of economical and political interests won’t let that happen easily. In this scenario, people from these nations have to take stand for themselves and to reveal their positive aspects in front of the whole world. Palestinian question (opinion) Palestine is a crucial and holy place for Jews, Christians and Muslims. What has been done so far is the clear manifestation of Orientalism which is a combination of many interests. If we consider that who has occupied whom and who should deserve the place, the debate will continue forever. I support Said’s idea of coexistence. The place holds the legacy of mistrust and conflict and emerging circumstances predict nothing different in future if the situation persists. All the parties should move away from the generalizations and consider their position in terms of others. Despite all the hostility and violence from both sides, world leaders should consider the vision of mutual understanding and cooperation. It is important for Jews and Palestinians both to put an end to conflict and move ahead towards peaceful coexistence for the peaceful future of their children. Said’s argument and explanation of distorted identities throughout the world makes a very compelling case against Orientalism. My experience of learning from this movie recommends that everyone should watch this movie. There are many reasons behind this recommendation. First of all, we live in a media mediated world which is not limited to our neighborhoods. Media being the only instant source of information influence our view points and understanding of just about everything, from a coffee shop to what is happening in Iraq. This movie reveals some of the media tactics and forces behind which helps viewer to understand the extent to which an information piece should be believed. Secondly, the movie highlights the way Orientalism is penetrated in our society throughout history. Last but not the least, current and emerging threats to the world appear entirely different when one realizes the truths about media coverage explained in a very simple way. However, it is important to experience the movie in an unbiased way in order to understand and accept the truth. Read More