The Notion of Orientalism and the Contemporary Society - Essay Example

?Orientalism and the Contemporary Society s Orientalism and the Contemporary Society I. Edward Said on Orientalism The depiction and portrayal of elements pertaining to the East Asian culture is referred to as Orientalism; it has become a very important notion in the discipline of Cultural Studies and the idea is slowly getting embedded in the Media as well. Orientalism is now essentially treated as a label for the Eastern or primarily Asian cultures that help explain the schism between the Western and Eastern ideology; in other words, the orient and the occident. Edward Said has established his reputation as an authority on this concept through his critically acclaimed and somewhat controversial book titled “Orientalism” that then redefined the field of Post-Colonial and cultural studies, shedding light on the development of racial and ethnic stereotypes. According to Said, Orientalism is not based on facts or the knowledge of the west regarding Eastern culture, but they project predetermined archetypes and apply them on to eastern societies. They work on the assumption that by default Eastern civilization is antithetical to the Western Civilization and basically treat all Eastern Cultures as being the same. This can be further seen as to how Arabs are automatically equated with Islam, whereas there is a vast population of Christian and Jewish Arabs in the region as well. Edward Said has incorporated Gramsci’s theory of hegemony with his theory of Orientalism to further elucidate how the western culture have dominated the entire globe and thereby serves as barometer to determine the norm (Mackenzie, 1995, 1-20). In his book, Said unravels a new facet of the concept that largely alludes to a set of false characteristics and pre-conceived notions about the Middle-Eastern and East Asian culture. Said further elaborates that use of the terms occident and the orient is further speculated to be used as the civilized and the uncivilized, which clearly highlights the West’s apparent “superiority complex”. These ideas have now become the shorthand for the feeling that is now greatly instilled in the minds of the Western civilization, who deem themselves superior and better than the people living the non-western parts of the world. Orientalism is now used to portray the non-western part of the world as backward and heavily dependent on the west (Halliday, 1993, 145-163). The author further explains that Orientalism is not a novel concept or something that he has invented, but the existence of this notion dates back to the era of European Enlightenment and colonization of the east. However, the development of ‘Orientalism’ was flawed from the very beginning, as it failed to become an all-encompassing notion and virtually ignored other Asian cultures, such as Russian Orientalism or German Orientalism, who shared a common ancestor with the people of the sub-continent. The latter point clearly illustrates how the western view of Orientalism was extremely restricted and had several gaps in it. (Macfie, 2002, 25-28; Kramer, 2007) Orientalism based on the western perspective actually ignores the fact that migration may result in overlapping aspects in various cultures, therefore no culture is superior or inferior to one another. Western artists also try to capture a glimpse of early Orientalism; one of the best examples is that of France. French artists have shown their interest in oriental art by the establishing a famous “Society of Orientalist Painters” in 1893 by Jean Lean Gerome. The concept of Orientalism can be clearly seen in European photography, paintings and in pictures that were displayed at the World Fair held in the United States in late nineteenth and early twentieth century. These oriental works of art clearly illustrate the non-Western world as backward and exotic. (Bhambra, 2007, 653-662) As mentioned earlier, the notion of Orientalism has now transcended into a set of preconceived ideas about the east by the west. Edward Said elaborates that Orientalism dictates that all Middle Eastern men are oil barons, who are crude and violent. On the other hand, a Middle Eastern woman is usually depicted as a burqa-clad oppressed female, who has to accommodate his husbands multiple wives and is always walking in tow with her husband, only a few feet behind or they are belly dancers. If they are not oil barons, then a Middle Eastern man is a terrorist, who is fuelled by Islamic extremism to eradicate the world of the non-believers or sinners, all in the name of Jihad. Moreover, Western orientalist ideology further establishes similar notions about the Asian culture as well, depicting them as opium addicts and also generalizes the view that all Asian are small and similar looking (Richardson, 1990, 16-19). Blaut describes this notion in the following words in his book titled “colonizer’s model of the world”: “By now a secular picture of the geography of Non-Europe had begun to be taught in European schools. Africans were described as savage and Oriental societies as decadent and despotic”. (Blaut, 2007, 4-5) Edward Said explains Orientalism in a strictly academic light and restricts its overall development to the 19th and 20th century, in an attempt to outline its origin. In his book, Said mentions a few famous western figures such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, Napoleon, Arthur James, Henry Kissinger and a few more who show the east as “other” or inferior. Another apt example of orientalist view given by Said in his book is the quotation of a poem for Napoleon by Victor Hugo titled as Lui. The poem is: By the Nile I find him once again. Egypt shines with the fires of his dawn; His imperial orb rises in the Orient. Victor, enthusiast, bursting with achievements, Prodigious, he stunned the land of prodigies. The old sheikhs venerated the young and prudent emir. The people dreaded his unprecedented arms; sublime, he appeared to the dazzled tribes Like a Mahomet of the Occident. (Said, 1978, pg. 83) II. Role of Orientalism in bringing about Modernization One of the greatest historical processes that have revolutionized the society as we know it is that of modernity. From a sociological perspective, the process of modernity came by as a result of revolutions in the political and social sphere; further shaped by the renaissance and development in the scientific and technological realm that laid down the foundations of the contemporary society. Bearing the various facets of Said’s critique of ‘Orientalism’ in mind it can be understood that modernization is completely irrelevant to the oriental view of life and therefore, according to western beliefs it cannot be accommodated in the Eastern cultures that strictly adhere to traditions and an orthodox way of living. The notions pertaining to Orientalism became even more widespread with the rise in colonial power, which was also supported by the Foucauldian ideology. Foucault’s theory of power has been applied in areas concerning race and colonialism, through which he postulates that revolution in the orient was indirectly spurred by post-colonialism and uses the ‘Iranian Revolution’ as an example. Foucault adopted a critical attitude towards modernity, much like the Iranian revolutionary figures. Unlike Said, Foucault believed that by treating Orientalism as a form of ‘discourse’, it could develop into a theoretical paradigm that can help people further understand the concept of colonial power and imperialism. (Foucault cited in Young, 1995, 1-2) The values of a particular culture are the result of the variables present in their environment and the various cues that cause the individuals within the culture to develop their ideology. Therefore, people of the orient have thoroughly studied the environment of the occident that triggers their norms, so that they can emulate all the positive aspects of their culture and enable the people to find common ground between them (Turner, 1994, 184-186). According to Said, colonialism was one of the most fundamental reasons as to why reformists worked hard to elevate their status in the eyes of the West or their colonists. Said further says: I doubt if it is controversial, for example, to say that an Englishman in India or Egypt in the later nineteenth century took an interest in those countries which was never far from their status in his mind as British colonies. To say this may seem quite different from saying that all academic knowledge about India and Egypt is somehow tinged and impressed with, violated by, the gross political fact – and yet that is what I am saying in this study of Orientalism. (Said, 1978, 11) The aforementioned quote succinctly describes the overall attitude of the West towards Eastern values and they never treated them or their cultures as anything more than their colonies. Their lingering superiority complex is to be blamed for this that Eastern reformists were actively trying hard so the West could see eye to eye with the Eastern culture. To further illustrate this point, an apt example would be that of sub-continental reformists such as Shah Wali Ullah and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who worked tirelessly to help the people become more embracing of the British culture and vice versa. They worked to dispel several misconceptions about their cultures and looked for a moderate solution to enable the eastern culture to coexist with the west. It was because of their efforts that many of the people accepted western education and now learned to amalgamate their culture with that of the West. English was readily adopted by the people as their second language and soon the Sub-Continent went on to become a successful nation of literate and broad minded people. Of course, these measures were often seen as a way to westernize the world, but it is also important to understand that it was not westernization that these oriental philosophers had in mind for the masses, but they sought to establish a moderate line of thinking that would make them more welcoming of change. They used several aspects from their own culture and religion to help the masses see that light and frequently advised them to not get overwhelmed by the Western ideology and to just adopt the ‘good’ aspects of their culture while ignore those that clash with their Eastern Sentiments. (Sered, 1996) III. Relevance of Orientalism in today’s world Orientalism is highly relevant in the contemporary society because from a historical perspective, this was the prime source of all the Eastern stereotypes that was formed by the Western Civilization. By the end of the 20th century, the entire western world was busy subduing the forces of communism, which it deemed as a godless, stiff, and unfriendly social belief that provokes conflict between nations and destroy the mutual harmony and peace. The west being the beacon of democracy directed criticism towards the Asian cultures, which actively supported this political ideology and formed a communist bloc. Gradually, with the increase in interaction between the Western and eastern world, the notions pertaining to the Orient and Occident had taken a back seat. However, with the rising political turmoil in various parts of the gulf the portrayal of Arab world became even harsh and in the end, Orientalism became even more pertinent in today’s world. As the society begins their downward spiral into fear and paranoia because of the rampant terrorist activity and the 9/11 incident that further deteriorated the relationship between the East and the West. Following this incident there was widespread hatred towards Eastern hemisphere, particularly the Arab world, which just reaffirmed the stereotype they had in mind for the Arab populations. The widespread misinterpretation of Islam by the western world has become one of the most crucial aspects of this notion. In today’s time almost all Muslims living in the west would agree to the fact that majority of the distortions regarding Islam are due to media; both the print and electronic media have played a substantial role in giving rise to these distortions (Humphreys, 1997). Because of these preconceived notions, being a Muslim becomes extremely difficult as people vastly see them in a negative light. This absurd repertoire of notions about Islam is widely held by influential people in the west that further deepen the racial crises. In the west it is commonly also known as “secular slander”. An individual would profound knowledge regarding Islam would know to what extent of its history and aims have been distorted. (Ahmad, 1992, 224-226) Roger Du Pasquier, a Swiss author journalist and author states: “The West, whether Christian or de-Christianised, has never really known Islam.  Ever since they watched it appear on the world stage, Christians never ceased to insult and slander it in order to find justification for waging war on it. It has been subjected to grotesque distortions the traces of which still endure in the European mind...” (Moore, 2008, p. 205). This clearly demonstrates the depths to which the world sunk and even many of the former oriental cultures including the Far East are also known to be involved in this systematic degeneration of the Middle East and the Muslim world. I. Conclusion In conclusion, Edward Said viewed ‘Orientalism’ as a notion that has undergone several changes, but its essence remains the same that is it is the association of a set of negative traits and stereotypes with the inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere. Orientalism has played its role in providing a fusion of Western values with that of the Eastern ones. The future of Orientalism depends on the mutual understanding between these two regions of the world. It would then unite people, cultures, and nations on a common ground and will further enhance relationships as the nations continue to treat each other with equality, respect. This will in turn promote peace and relations between nations and to diminish the misconceptions about different cultures that would attach social stigmas on to it and propagating a negative image on a global scale. Bibliography Ahmed, A.S. (1992). Postmodernism and Islam, Predicament and Promise. New Jersey: Routledge Publishing: p.p 224-226 Bhambra, G.K. (2007). Historical Sociology, Modernity, and Post-Colonial Critique.Oxford Journals: 653-662 Blaut, J.M. (2012). Colonizer’s model of the world: History inside out. New York: Guilford Press: 4-5 Halliday, F. (1993). ‘Orientalism' and Its Critics. United Kingdom: British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: 145-163 Humphreys, R.S. (1997). Tradition and Innovation in the Study of Islamic History: The Evolution of North American Scholarship since 1960. [Online] Japan: University of Tokyo. Available at: < http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/IAS/English/Unit/Soukatu/Soukatu-l/humphreys.html> Kramer, M.S. (2001). The failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.martinkramer.org/sandbox/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/IvoryTowers.pdf> Macfie, A.L. (2002). Orientalism. New York: Pearson Education: 25-28 MacKenzie, J. (1995). Orientalism: History, theory and the arts. 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