While there are many negative stereotypes about the Arabs, the
depiction is not a modern phenomenon. This depiction is the evolution of how
the west came to perceive the East. This began when the Greeks excluded those
who did not speak the same language as them, referring to them as barbaric. Furthermore,
the introduction of Islam posed a threat to the Christian civilization of the
west and thus Islam came to be perceived to be competing ideologies. Islam,
though not fully understood by the west, began to be viewed negatively.
In an interview with his about his book, Orientalism, Edward Said, talks about why he became interested in the subject and what the book holds. One of Said’s Interest on orientalism stems from the distorted view of how the Arabs were represented, and how he actually lived. He argues that while the Arabs were represented as chaotic, exotic and backwards, he was in fact living contrary to this belief. Edward Said is from Palestinian origin, but pursued his education and his career in western countries. Although he had written about the western-eastern relationship, many perceive him to be an orientalist. However, I disagree with this statement because today’s world is different than yesterday’s world. With globalization having had an impact on our way of thinking, the lives of the west and east has become interlinked. While he lived, got his education and worked in the United States, this does mean that he is an orientalist. If that were the case, then all Arabs who have pursued their studies in the U.S and have had the privilege to work in western countries should also be considered orientalist.
In an interview with his about his book, Orientalism, Edward Said, talks about why he became interested in the subject and what the book holds. One of Said’s Interest on orientalism stems from the distorted view of how the Arabs were represented, and how he actually lived. He argues that while the Arabs were represented as chaotic, exotic and backwards, he was in fact living contrary to this belief. Edward Said is from Palestinian origin, but pursued his education and his career in western countries. Although he had written about the western-eastern relationship, many perceive him to be an orientalist. However, I disagree with this statement because today’s world is different than yesterday’s world. With globalization having had an impact on our way of thinking, the lives of the west and east has become interlinked. While he lived, got his education and worked in the United States, this does mean that he is an orientalist. If that were the case, then all Arabs who have pursued their studies in the U.S and have had the privilege to work in western countries should also be considered orientalist.
Edward Said gives a great example of how the Orientalist discourse
has continued till this day. After the Oklahoma bombings, he received numerous
phone calls from reporters and government officials that asked him if he had
some kind of knowledge of who the aggressor was. Of course Edward said he did
not know, but they presumed he knew because he was an Arab. At the end, the
aggressor turned out to be an American. A more recent example is the Norwegian
shooting and bomb that occurred in august of 2011. When the news broke out,
news agencies worldwide presumed it was an Arab only to confirm he was a Norwegian.
Orientalist thinking is embedded in most of us which is why; we presume it’s an
Arab when news breaks out of a bomb or a shooting. I wonder
what the reaction of Said would have been in 9/11 and if reporters assumed he
once again knew who it would be.
The book, Colonizing Egypt, by Timothy Mitchel extensively focuses
on the subject of enframing. For Mitchel, enframing is a method of dividing up
and containing space. It is a technic that has modified the way of life of Egyptians,
with the building of barracks, the introduction of a new educational system,
and new housing structures. While these technics are used to divide the
physical space, there are also other examples of enframing that divide the
mental space. For example, orientalism, a technic that mentally divides the societies
of the east and west. Orientalism, with its negative depictions of the Arabs,
has managed to divide the people of west and east, which subsequently managed
to make a hierarchy of both people.
-OMG-
-OMG-
Hi OMG,
ReplyDeleteA couple quick questions. What are your thoughts on the validity of attributing orientalist thoughts all the way back to the Ancient Greeks? There are plenty of historical times where the "West" was not in the "ascendency" over the "East". Where negative stereotypes during these times an attempt by the West to impose its hegemony over the East (even if the West was not the dominant power)?
BDF
Great summary of thoughts with regard to Orientalism. I like how you do not perceive Said as an Orientalist just because he lived and studied in the West. I think his exposures to both the East and the West are what give a great understanding of Orientalism and the ability to analyse so professionally the views of the West on the East, because he certainly knows both cultures and knows how one would perceive a culture that he or she was not directly exposed to. I agree with you, I do not think he is an Orientalist but he knows how to perfectly read an orientalist mind and think like an Orientalist.
ReplyDeleteS.A.A