Orientalism

Edward Said: Wrote Orientalism (1979), a critique of the representation of “the Orient” in Western scholarship (primarily French and British). The impact of this representation goes far beyond the academy; the network of its associations provides rationale for the Western European and Anglo-American colonial domination of the “Global South.” In its most general application, “the Orient” represents everything that “the Occident” is not. Orientalists institutionalized the “us”versus “them” colonial mentality.

Orientalism: A Definition “The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe's greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the Other. In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience. Yet none of this Orient is merely imaginative. The Orient is an integral part of European material civilization and culture” (Edward Said, Orientalism [New York: Vintage Books, 1979], pp. 1-2). “Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient - dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, resturcturing, and having authority over the Orient” (ibid., p. 3).

“Oriental” Associations Negative: Positive: sexual decadence, hollow faith, falsehood, dangerously alluring, eroticism, moral corruption, despotism, material extravagance, homosexuality, feminine, fatalism, passivity, stasis colorful, sensual, beauty (exotic), contemplation, mysticism, spirituality, faith, “ family values, ” anti-industrial, “ spicy ”

Orientalism in the Movies

What Does an Orientalist Look Like?