Orientalism

Orientalism by Edward Said is a discourse in which the Occident holds power over the Orient. It is through this power that the Occident can structure it how it wants to. It is an idea that the Eastern world and the Western world have opposite ways of thinking in terms of being and knowledge. This is often shown in the superiority of the West and the inferiority of the East. Edward Said first used the word this way in his 1978 book "Orientalism".
Before the term Orientalism was used like this by Said, it had a different meaning. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the term Orientalism was used to describe the effects of the Orient's influence on art, literature, and architecture fields. It basically referred to an academic study of the East by the West. This included the academic study done by philologists who were focused on the Oriental languages and the understanding of ancient Oriental texts. This knowledge was thought to be enough to understand Oriental civilizations. There was no interest to the everyday life of these Oriental communities and their customs and traditions.
Oriental art shows different elements which are seen as typical for this art direction. Furthermore, oriental art represents how Western people imagined the Orient. Additionally, there are several movies which included Orientalism, such as Aladdin.
Orientalism in art
Development of Oriental Art
The rise of Oriental art started in Venice in Italy. The city and the Ottoman Empire were at war from 1463 till 1479. Because of this, Venice needed to give money to the Ottoman Empire to keep sea trade. Also, in 1479, the venetian government sent Gentile Bellini to work for the sultan. Then Bellini started to work with the experiences and impressions he gained in the Ottoman Empire, He processed those in his paintings, when he was back in Venice in 1481. The interaction between Sultan Mehmed II and Bellini was the first historical meeting to express Orientalist art.
The second meeting was between France and the Ottoman Empire. Because of the "Franco-Ottoman Alliance" in 1536, many impressions and ideas emerged either of Europe or the Middle East. Because of this interaction between the two different continents, international goods became popular. As a result, the French painting style, Turquerie was created.
The third meeting is seen as the peak of oriental art. Because of Napoleon, France had power over Egypt rom 1798 till 1801. At this time, Egyptian products became popular in France.
In 1893, the institution called the Society of French Oriental Artists emerged. This institution supported the idea of oriental art. They also supported going to the Middle East to gain experience and impressions to use in their paintings.
Lastly, oriental art started to get disliked in the 19th century. This was because the art was now often connected to discrimination.
Elements of Oriental Art
In general, this art style presents how western artists imagined the Orient to be. For example, how everyday life could look like in this region. Either they had visited the region, or they painted what the region could look like.
Firstly, Oriental painters use mostly warm colours, such as yellow, orange or red. Another feature of these paintings is the use of shadows and light.
Secondly, typical elements are nude women, harems, or mosques.
Thirdly, oriental art can be seen in form of photography and so-called genre paintings. These presented everyday activities.
Lastly, the paintings were mostly made by people from western countries. For example countries like France or Great Britain. Those states were controlling regions of the Middle East. By creating these paintings, these countries tried to promote themselves in the region. Furthermore, they presented the Orient as bad and disrespectful.
An example of today is Aladdin. This movie shows how the producers of the movie expected the Orient to be and how the people in the region could look like.
Scholarly Orientalism
Philology and Orientalism
From the 19th century, the term Orientalism was used to mean an academic field. Here people had with a special job to study Oriental languages and sacred ancient texts. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, studies about Sanskrit, Persian, and Egyptian hieroglyphs became very popular. Many institutions were founded during this time to help support these studies.
Philology was considered to be the only necessary thing to understand Oriental civilizations. Orient was a big and not precise term. However, it was clear that the Orientalists studied mostly the Middle East rather than India and China. Over the time the Oriental studies were divided into more specific group such as "Near Eastern" and "East Asian" departments. Finally, at the beginning of the 20th century the term "Middle East" was invented by the US army.
Edward Said
Important terms
The Orient: An area including most of present-day North Africa and Middle Eastern countries.
The Occident: Western countries that had colonized the Orient. This in particular includes France, Great Britain and later the United States.
Colonialism: When countries take control of weaker countries.
Discourse: Discourse is a system of society. It produces knowledge and meaning. This production then creates processes that shape the things they talk about.
Cultural Hegemony: Cultural Hegemony by Antonio Gramsci, is a form of social control by the upper class over the lower classes. Here, ideas and opinions are enforced by them, so that the lower classes accept only the upper class' opinions and not their own.
Postcolonial: A term which covers all affected by colonialism.
The Book Orientalism (1978)
Summary:
The book Orientalism by Edward Said was published in 1978. In this book Said establishes his concept of Orientalism and gives a new definition for the term.
Before his book, Orientalism was a word used in academia to refer to the study of the region formerly labelled 'the Orient'. The focus here was its culture and languages. The word also described all things that were created in this study about the Orient by the Occident. For example: books, articles, and art.
In the first chapter, 'The Scope of Orientalism', Said gives a history of 'Orientalism' as an academic discipline.
In the second chapter, 'Orientalist Structures and Restructures', Said shows the strong contrast that is created between the representations of Orient and the Occident. These representations come out of the academic study of Orientalism. He does this by analyzing texts by Silvestre de Sacy, and Ernest Renan. In the works that the Occident made about the Orient, the western countries were always shown as better. In contrast, the Orient was described as undeveloped and secondary.
The last chapter of the book is called 'Orientalism Now'. Said uses his theory of Orientalism to explain 19th and 20th French and British colonialism. Said explains that this can also explain American foreign policy in the Middle East. He says 'area specialists' are taking the role of the philologists of earlier centuries. In Said's view, such 'experts' help reinforce the system of Orientalism in present day. This maintains the Western discourse of Orientalism into the 1980s.
Said's concept of Orientalism
The concept of Orientalism by Edward Said is made up of many different components. Said explains three approaches for how Orientalism is can be understood. First, Orientalism is an 'academic discipline'. Here, Orientalism is a science, and the Orient is seen as a subject for studying. The Occident wants to classify and label the Orient through this study. This approach is how the West understands Orientalism. In their view it is only an academic discipline.
The second approach is Orientalism as a 'style of thought'. This means it is a way of thinking. It is based on the contradictions and contrasts that are formed by society between the Orient and the Occident.
Lastly, Orientalism is an approach in which the West views the Orient as a political instrument. They want to use this instrument for 'cultural and political domination'. They also use it to justify colonialism.
It is only when all three of these approaches join, Orientalism becomes a discourse. In this discourse, Orientalism becomes the way the Occident holds power over the Orient. It is through this power that the Occident can structure it how it wants to.
The origin of this type of Orientalism is the concept of the 'Other'. Every culture creates an 'Other' to form their self-image. This comes from the definition of identity where one is what one is not. If the Orient is the undeveloped and bad 'Other', the Occident then is not. The Occident is then modern and good. The idea of the 'Other' sets the two against each other, causing fights.
Because of this, Said explains that the Orient was created by the West. It is not a thing, but just an idea. The idea is created in and for the Orient. Its culture is only what the West gives it. The Occident is also man-made. This is because it only exists in relation to the Orient. They are rely on each other.
The West 'created' the Orient through their relationship of power and domination. This relationship is led by hegemony. Hegemony stabilises Orientalism. Only then can the relationship be maintained. Said argues that this is why the Orient was and is not free.
Also, the Occident will only ever see the Orient in a wrong way. This is because of the 'lens of Orientalism. This lens ruins all images, studies, and representations that the Occident makes about the Orient.
Impact:
Said's idea of Orientalism has influenced many people. It has even been called one of the most influential books. Said's definition of Orientalism has become the one most associated with the word.
Because it made people look at colonialism in new ways, 'postcolonial theory' was born. It has also greatly influenced other academic fields, for example cultural studies, anthropology, political science, and history.
Another example is feminist studies (academic study of women's position in society). Orientalism is a model that made it possible for people to analyze the very complicated identity of Middle Eastern women. This is also an example that Said's theory of Orientalism gave opportunities to less advantaged people.
Criticisms:
While Edward Said's book and definition of Orientalism attracted much support, many rejected his ideas, for several reasons.
Some said that Said was not the first person to talk about Orientalism in this way. There were similar books published before his. For example, English speaking Orientalist (1965) by Syrian academic Abdul Latif Tibawi and The Myth of the Lazy Native (1977) by Malaysian sociologist Syed Hussain Alatas.
Others said Said's Orientalism treats the Occident unfairly. They say it creates a wrong image of the West. This type of criticism is called 'Occidentalism'. It was said that Said was doing the same thing to the Occident as he claimed the Occident did to the Orient.
Said was also accused of being too limited in his analysis. He ignores German, Austrian, and Russian colonialism and orientalism. He also only considers a small part of the Middle East. Said even criticises himself for only looking at 19th and 20th century academic Orientalism.
Orientalism now
Present-day example
The children Disney movie Aladdin from 1992, shows people living in the Orient in a disrespectful way. The images and song texts of the movie are showing stereotypes. They also show the typical motifs of oriental art.
There are different common oriental art elements in the story of the movie. The name of the city Agrabah should just sound Arabic. It does not actually have any Arabic meaning. The idea of proposing a forced marriage to Jasmine is also a stereotype. The scenery of the movie is mostly in warm colours or blue. In the film you can see also camels, a desert and harems.
The most obvious characteristics of the characters also present Orientalism. Aladdin speaks with an "American accent". He is dressed almost topless. The female character, Jasmine, also has an American accent. She wears belly dancer clothing and owns a tiger as a pet. Both main characters are shown in a good manner. But they are both sexualised by showing them in less clothing. Other characters are characterised by a big, curved nose and a lot of facial hair.
The main characters are depicted in a westernised way. Because of this they are recognised as good in western societies. The other characters do not have western or American characteristics. They are then seen as bad. This means that people who do not share the same values or appearances as western people are directly seen differently and gross.
Notes
References
History