Edward Said and Orientalism
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Orientalism 1 Özge SARI Hacı Mehmet BOYRAZ
Transcript of Edward Said and Orientalism
Orientalism
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Özge SARIHacı Mehmet BOYRAZ
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‘She never spoke of herself, she never represented her emotions, Presence or history. He spoke for and represented her’…
Outline1. Basic Terms: Orient, Occident, Ethno-centrism2. Symbols of the orient3. Power over the orient4. Edward Said5. Orientalism6. A video explaning orientalism7. Occidentalism8. An example for Orientalism: the USA (western) is
in Iraq (eastern)9. Critisc of orientalism
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Orient vs. Occident “Orient” does not always just refer to ‘the orient’ as a place but also represents a number of political influences on western consciousness, its learning and its empire. The term orient was created by the west to create an inferior mirror image of itself. It isconnected with or typical of Eastern part of the world.
“Occident” would be the west, meaning Europe mainly, especially Western Europe.
According to Edward Said, orient and occident are man-made. The orient is an idea that has a history and a tradition of thought, imagery, and vocabulary that have given it reality and presence in and for the West. The relationship between Orient and Occident is an asymmetrical one because of power, domination and varying degrees of a complex hegemony (a form of superiority).
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Orientalism• Creating the other (the Orient/ East); ethno-centric• The western view of the eastern world, created by western
(mainly British, North American and French) scholars and academics as a fictional and direct opposite to west.
• A “willed imaginative and geographic distinction made between West and East”.
• A system of representations framed by a whole set of forces that brought the Orient into Western learning, Western consciousness, and later, Western Empire”.
• As he said that orientalism is a tool of colonialism.
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Edward Said – a big phenomenon
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Born 1 November 1935 in Jerusalem which was at the time of his birth was the British mandate of Palestine.
He was then educated in British public schools populated mostly by wealthy Arabs many of whom went on to become powerful leaders and businessmen.
He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University (1957), and then a Master of Arts degree (1960) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (1964), in English Literature, from Harvard University. He was lecturer of BARACK OBAMA.
He analyses of Orientalism as the source of the inaccurate cultural representations that are the foundation of Western thought towards the Middle East, of how The West perceives and represents The East.
After writing the book “Orientalism”, he was called Edward without Sait.
Symbol of the OrientThe other for the Occident/ WestIrrationalHierarchicalInferiorityWeakDespotic – no democracyDirected by OccidentUncivilizedMysticPower of coercion (Gramsci’s view)
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Power over the Orient• Political Power; colonial and imperial
establishments…• Intellectual Power; policy sciences…• Cultural Power; traditions…• Moral Power; differences in what one half is
allowed to do and can understand compare to the other…
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Ethno-centrism
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We and the other
Keys to understand• The orient is an integral part of European
material civilization.• 3 meanings of orientalism in the book (with the
help of Gallo’s slide):▫ Academic tradition▫ Style of thought ontologically and epistemologically▫ Corporate institution
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• Said was influenced by▫ Vico Men make their own history
▫ Gramsci Hegemony which gives orientalism its durability
▫ Foucault Discourse ( a system of thought that defines what
can be known politically, economically, militarily, scientifically and ideologically).
Power-knowledge
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Occident and its symbol“Occident” would be the west, meaning Europe mainly, especially Western Europe.
• The other for the Occident• Rational• Democratic• Superiority• Strong/ Ruler• Direct Orient• Civilized• Mystic (not as much as the Orient)• Power of consent (Gramsci’s view)
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• Westerners as “selfish” came to 68 percent; as “violent”, 66 percent; as “greedy”, 64 percent; as “immoral”, 61 percent; as “arrogant”, 57 percent; and as “fanatical”, 53 percent. The harshest views were found in Jordan and Egypt; the least harsh in Lebanon.
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Power over the Occident
Is there any anwer?!.
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Occidentalism• Creating the other (the Orient/ West) ; ethno-centric• (Serif Mardin’s definition of Occidentalism) the eastern view
of the western world, created by easterns and academics as a fictional and direct opposite to east.
• In brief, a “willed imaginative and geographic distinction made between East and West”.
• A system of representations framed by a whole set of forces that brought the Occident into Eastern learning, Eastern consciousness, and later, Eastern Empire”.
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USA in Iraq
• The reason of why the USA went to Iraq can be explained by an oriental view: “Iraq (occident/ eastern)”
has no democracy, is uncivilized, has no equality for women, human and even children
So the Iraqians need the Americans (occident/ western) to reverse this system. This means that “war as a Civilizing Mission to restore Democracy and Individual Freedom”.
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Critisc over Orientalism (1)• Aslı Çırakman says that “in the 16th and 17th centuries, travellers
had good and positive emotions over the Ottoman Empire. After the 18th century, this reversed, so his ideas are time limited.
• Like Çırakman, Hilmi Yavuz says that he generally focused on the Middle East mentioning the Ottoman a little. He should have focused on the Ottoman as well as the “Arap World”.
• Şerif Mardin (an important Turkish sociologist) say that “Said’s ideas about the orient/ east▫ are conjectural▫ are not seen in the whole history▫ are generalized▫ are man-made, so it is really possible to have wrongs”
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Critisc over Orientalism (2)• Ibn Warraa says that “Said says little or nothing
about such topics as white slavery, Islamic racism and anti-Semitism and Asian racism.”
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