Thinking Activity: Orientalism by Edward Said

 Orientalism: Edward Said

There are different ways to see different people from different places. Now the question is why the perspective varies from one another. Why we can't see people from the one objective perspective. And the answer is the word "Other." When we start looking people as Others at that time we fails to think objectively. Language makes all the difference.

Knowledge which we get is not Innocent and Objective. It was created subconsciously or sometimes consciously by people who are in power for their benefits and for their convenience. There might be a possibility that the real facts are missing from it. Because it is narrated through "One Single perspective" And what is the harm of that One biased perspective is that it create discrimination in community. So, Post colonial study is also based on to inquire about the false image created by Western Colonizers about Eastern people on the name of civilization. How these prejudicial images are still controlling the minds of colonized even after independence.

Post colonial studies emphasize more on the consequences and problems which came up in front of people in the process of decolonization. Completely Decolonizing self is not possible because the roots of colonization is deeply hardwired in people's minds. And unconsciously it keeps on coming up on the surfaces. So, through this particular blog you will know more about one of the major Post Colonial works by Edward Said namely "Orientalism."

Edward Said

Before we dive deep in the "Orientalism" book by Edward Said, let's have a look at the basic introduction of the author. Edward said was a Palestinian American writer born in Palestine and lived in America. He was professor at Columbia University and also a public intellectual figure known for his non-fictional work "Orientalism," which is a hallmark for Post colonial studies. For him the only way to develop human community is Humanity. He rightly remarked that….

Humanism is the only - I would go so far as saying the final- resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.

Inspiration for writing Orientalism

Edward Said mentioned in his interview that there are two reasons by which he was inspired to write 'Orientalism.' 

1) Arab-Israel War of 1973: If we see history then there is ongoing conflict between Jews and Arabic people. Israel is a country of Jewish people surrounded by 22 Arabic Countries. During this war one thing which strikes Edward Said is the way Mass-Media represents the Arab Soldiers as coward and don't know how to Fight. This is the False representation of Arab which inspires him to retell the story.

2) Another reason is a very personal one. His own experience of being Arab triggers him to write the reality of Arab people.  He further argues that what great scholars used to write about Orient is far far away from the factual factors. What Great Novelists like Disrael and Flaubert and Artists like Delacroix and Ang and Gerome represented had very little to do with what Edward Said finds in his own surroundings. So, he decide to write 'Orientalism.'

You can also refer to the interview of Edward Said on Orientalism which is taken by Sut Jhally University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

To read Transcript of the Video 

Click Here

What is 'Orient' and 'Orientalism'?

Everything on this Earth is divided in Binaries. If we see in terms of Colonialism or Postcolonialism then the different countries which are ruled by and ruled over can be categorized under two parts. One is East and another is West. Orient is a phrase representing the East. Anything related to the East like its culture, geography, economy and people all comes under the category of Orient. Orient is an opposite of Occident which means West. So, the European countries are all included in the West or Occident and countries of Asia and the Middle East are collectively known as Orient.

Now the very idea of Orient is not Natural. It is the constructed or developed idea by the West to see Eastern countries as not so civilized, not so developed and not so educated. So, Orient is a fabricated idea which labels the East as uncivilized, backward, Strange and threatening people. Which materialize the countries of East according to their point of view. As Benjamin Disrael rightly remarked that

“The East is a career.”

For West East is treasure. Where they used to invade to gain wealth. And for their benefits they narrate the East in a very fantastical and rosy way. What said insist is that Repertory Images of East started coming up when we see the Narrative of East. The Marvels of the East is a phrase used to describe the mysteries and secrets of the East. But the more you dig the totally opposite realistic picture comes out of depth. Orientalism asks questions like….

"How do we come to understand people, strangers, who look different

to us by virtue of the color of their skin?"

So, Orientalists study the basic difference between how things are represented and what the exact realities of those places are? Edward Said's Orientalism focuses more on Arabic people of East and how they were represented by French colonies.

Orientalism and Empire

Now, The very idea of Orientalism is not pre-existing that the Middle East countries should be looked at in a subtle way. It was developed by the European Empire after it invaded in Eastern countries. Edward Said  also tried to locate the concept of Idealism with the history of Imperial conquest. Now the question is why certain countries are represented in such a way. 

So, The obvious answer is Knowledge goes with Power, The one who is in power develops Knowledge and distributes that knowledge for longer powerful leadership. From the 16th century onwards British and French  people started colonizing the Eastern countries. The only way to control someone is to understand that people. By understanding their culture, their way of living, their values it became easy to subjugate people. So, the Modern Empire developed by British and French people can be categorised under the column of "Intellectual Imperialism." Because they not only succeed to conquer the places geographically, but along with that their strong impression is still on the culture, institution and ideologies of people. This is a new kind of Imperialism as Edward Said recognises and this Modern Imperialism has responsibility for the development of Orientalism.

There was a kind of break that occurred kind of after Napoleon came to Egypt in 1798. I think it's the first really modern imperial expedition. So he invades the place but he doesn't invade it the way the Spaniards invaded the New World, looking for loot.

American Orientalism

There are different colonies colonized by different countries. And there is also a  contradiction, how a particular colony established their power over other countries. So, It is obvious that the process of Orientalism also differs. Here, Edward Said tries to differentiate the experience of Orient between Imperior of America British and French rule over Eastern Countries.

Edward Said categories Orientalism in two different parts. On the one hand there is British and France Orientalism which is quite different from American Orientalism which is on the other hand. Colonial experience with both sides is not the same. The basic difference is invasion over land with direct control, while the American Imperialism and Orientalism is quite abstract in terms of invasion over geographical land. And American Orientalism is politicized because of the presence of Israel issues.

Demonization of Islam: Role of Mass Media

With the passing time,The forms of subjugation also changed. With the advancement of technology new forms are coming up which creates a huge amount of information throughout the day. Among them Mass-Media became a very effective tool which has played a very vital role in generating one-sided views. Mass-Media played a very crucial role in the spread of American Orientalism. 

American Journalists and Hollywood movies see Arab and Islamic people as threats. The discourse going on is almost blame the Islam in the rise of terrorism. The way American look at Islamic people, Arabic world and the Middle East is very problematic. They tries to Demonize the Islamic by portraying Muslim as roots of terrorism and violence. And in this process of Demonization Mass Media playing a very significant role.

'Covering Islam' was an account of the coverage of Islam in the popular media. Immediately occasioned by the Iranian Revolution, which described itself as you recall, as an Islamic revolution.

 What I discovered was a huge arsenal of images employed by the media, large masses of people waving their fists, black banners, the stern-faced Khomeini, all of them giving the impression of the utmost negative, sort of evil emanation. So the impression you got of Islam was that it was a frightening mysterious, above all threatening, as if the main business of Muslims was to threaten and try to kill Americans.

So, What Edward Said argues is that Generalization is not a fair way to judge people. Orientalism is all about lenses through which we understand the things. And In which Western Orientalism and American Orientalism have very powerful roots and they control and oppress the realistic identification of Eastern countries which are known as Orient, mere an object of subjugation.

Israel and Palestine Conflict

The Israel-Palestine conflict has a long history over the decades and is still burning with the same fire. It started around the middle of the 20th century. It is not only limited to conflict of land, it transcends beyond geographical borders and more of issue of theology, religion and community. To understand the Israel-Palestine issue here are some of the videos which you can refer…

The video highlight that the Israel Palestine issue rise in order to establish the separate nation for Jewish and Arabic-Islam people. It is more an issue of Nationalism and Religious Conflict instead of land. The concept of Jewish Nationalism is called Zionism. So, Jewish people want Israel as their separate nation where Judaism is at the center.

The Secular Jews of Israel believe 

that "Israel is state for Jews 

more than a Jewish State.

And Palestine is a country which is country of Arab-Islam and Arab-Christine. And the people of Palestine want to establish their own independent country of Arabic people. And they believed that this holy place is allocated to them by Divine God. So, This is issue of Israel-Palatine which is Theological Fight between Arab-Islam and Arab-Christine of Palestine and Jews of Israel.

"One side want the other side dead"

This is the statement which rightly defines the Israel-Palestine issue in a very few words. The very interesting argument is given at the end of the video. The major question is What if any one of these two countries drop down their weapons? In the first case if Arab led down their weapons then the both states lived in peace. But the second possibility is very crucial that if Israel led down their weapons then another conflict is waiting and which of Majority versus Minority. And there is also a possibility of mass destruction of the Minority by Majority.

Very interesting arguments are given in this video that the Israel-Palestine issue is now shifting from Religious Hatred to Nationalism. Earlier there were prejudicial hatred against two religions but now It's becoming more of the discourse of claiming the Land as our. Both the states claim that the land is theirs and they want to establish their own independent nation. 

It is a conflict between two self-determination movements - Jewish Zionist project and the Palestinian Nationalist Project - that lay claim to the same territory.

References

• “Edward Said on Orientalism.” MEDIA EDUCATION FOUNDATION TRANSCRIPT, Sut Jhally, 2005, www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Edward-Said-On-Orientalism-Transcript.pdf. 
• Kayaalp, Göksu. Edward Said's Orientalism. 25 Sept. 2017, www.europeangeneration.eu/single-post/2017/06/14/Edward-Saids-Orientalism.