Category: Orientalism

The Asian world has always been a mystery for the Western civilization; the former lives according its own laws which the European culture conceive completely, envisions the world, its origins and the way its elements intertwine in harmony in a slightly different way than the Western civilization does; in addition, the Oriental culture uses a range of symbolic which is completely alien to the Western world and can be hardly associated with anything, while triggering a chain of emotions within the heart of an Oriental dweller.

However, either because of its colorfulness and vividness, or because these details stir peoples imagination so easily and with such tremendous effect, the Oriental themes, especially in poetry, were extremely popular in the Era of Romanticism, making the fascination with the Eastern world one of its key features.

As Carruthers and Rawers (2003) explain, Romantic Orientalism has historically been written and read from a European perspective (p. 117). Because of the impact of the epoch, Ozymandias and Alastor, Percy Bische Shellys two most famous poems, display a considerable amount of details which can be referred to as the explicit manifestations of Orientalism.

One of the first things that fall into the eye of the reader at the very beginning of the poems is the unusual names, Ozymandias and Alastor. The former, interpreted as Ramesses throne name, sends the reader into the heat of the Egyptian sun and, thus, makes one plunge into the Oriental world almost instantly.

In addition, the name also immediately riggers an entire cadence of reminiscences connected with the famous emperor, thus, setting quite tragic back-story which an experienced reader can see between the lines of the poem: In Shelleys Ozymandias of Egypt, is the Oriental potentate on the pedestal now a colossal wreck, boundless and bare because of a unique Oriental despotism? (p. 281), Varisco (2007) asks.

As for the Alastor, although the name and, thus, the subplot for the poem originates from the Roman mythology and, thus, can be hardly referred to as the one filled with Orientalism elements, there are still recognizable traces of the above-mentioned phenomenon in the poem. In addition, the sound of the name was exotic enough for the poet too use it in the same way the Oriental elements were, i.e., to shock viewers into paying attention to the hidden innuendoes in the poem.

Among the rest of the elements which point at the obvious Orientalism of both poems, the use of settings is rather wise and efficient: In Ozymandias, the author puts a special emphasis on the fact that the events take place in the desert and sand, which is basically the place most people associate with Asian settings:

Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies (Shelley, 1818)

Therefore, with the help of two words, sand and desert, Shelley managed to transfer the audience right into the heart of the Oriental world instantly. However, the chosen tactics works in the poem because it is relatively short, which is not the case for Alastor. As for the latter, Shelly refuses to use the same tactics in the poem; it must be admitted that the following scenery:

the worlds youth: through the long burning day

Gazed on those speechless shapes; nor, when the moon

Filled the mysterious halls with floating shades

Suspended he that task (para.122-126)

can actually be observed in any corner of the world. Unlike in Ozymandias, in Alastor Shelley uses rather the specific imagery than the exotic words to add Orientalism to the poem: the Arab maiden brings the food to the leading character (Shelley 1815, para.129).

The difference in the choices of the means can be explained by the fact that, unlike in Alastor, where the author had a lot of room for vast descriptions, in Ozymandias it was necessary to keep the poem short and expressive; hence, the exotic terms were used as the means to transport the audience to the Oriental settings.

Shelley obviously not only adds certain Oriental elements to the common environment, but sets his narration in a completely new environment, with its specific features. According to Uddin Khan (2008),

In Alastor, the poet-protagonists journey takes him back through human history (that is, Arabia, Persia, over the Hindu Kush mountains, which form the Indian Caucasus extending from Afghanistan to Kashmir in north-west India) to the thrilling secrets of the birth of time (p. 47)

Therefore, the poet obviously wants to capture the air of the Asian mysteries in a capsule and convey the specific flair of the Orient world to the readers. Reading the poem turns into walking across the uncharted universes and revealing its secrets; and with the help of specific details, Shelley restores the specific Asian atmosphere.

As Oueijan (n.d.) explains, In Ozymandias (18171818), Shelley asserts an antique land in order to reveal the emptiness of pomp and power (p. 8).

What particularly fascinated Shelley was the way in which Owenson uses Kashmir as a paradisal image for that ideal interior landscape of the fulfilled psyche (Hoeveler, 2006, p. 168).

However, it is worth mentioning that Shelly also avoided using the elements which he knew little about: Shelley did not go to Egypt, and neither of his Egyptian sonnets  To the Nile and of course Ozymandias  mentions the Pyramids, which is logical enough; following the tradition of Romanticism, Shelley writes about the cultures which are quite distant from the European ones and yet does not go into details, allowing the readers to restore the atmosphere of the mysterious worlds themselves.

Speaking of the major Orientalism elements in the poems, one must mention that both poems focus on rather grandeur events in the history of the Eastern world, which can also be considered another important element making the poems Orientalist. As Thomas (2012) explains,

Two specific features of Orientalism are significant both for European Orientalist studies (of India, especially) and for subsequent Indian and Filipino political-intellectual projects: first, Orientalisms focus on authoritative texts, and, second, its narrative on historical decline from ancient greatness. (25)

Indeed, Ozymandias tells about the rapid destruction of the great empire built by powerful pharaohs, which corresponds to the key concept of the Oriental literature. Likewise, Alastor touches upon the collapse of the world, yet in the case of the latter, it is not the empire, but the world of the narrator, the Poet, which is ruined:

Of the vast meteor sunk, the Poets blood,

That ever beat in mystic sympathy

With natures ebb and flow, grew feebler still (para.651-654)

Therefore, it is obvious that Shelley uses the typical Orientalism strategies to build a fully realistic universe. However, it would be a mistake to think that the elements of the Oriental culture which were used by Shelley in his poems were completely authentic; these were rather the common ideas of what the Oriental world must look like instead of its true portrayal and carefully verified details.

This is the type of the middle-eastern worlds own exotic Orientalism, for which Europe had become a late eighteenth century dependent customer (p. 48), as Niyogi (2006) put it. Taking an exotic detail and pushing it to the stage when it became almost grotesque, Shelley crated his own Oriental universe, rather impressive, yet not necessarily true to the facts.

One of the most peculiar features of the poets creations, this feature on no account should be considered as a drawback which diminishes the quality of his works, but rather a feature of the epoch, with its taste for the unknown and unraveled. Offering true details would have ruined the charm of the poems.

True gems of the era of Orientalism, Ozymandias and Alastor offer a travel into the world which hardly anyone can imagine; not only is this a travel back in time, but also an excursion into the mysterious oriental universe, the place created by Romanticists and for Romanticists.

Addressing all major elements of Orientalism, the poems still make certain changes to the traditional perception of the Oriental world and create a different universe, which are completely impeccable in their weirdness. Even despite certain inaccuracies in the description of the distant world, the poems are the pearls which are worth taking a close look at.

References

Carruthers, G & Rawers, A 2003, English Romanticism and the Celtic world, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Hoeveler, D L & Cass, J D 2006, Interrogating Orientalism: contextual approaches and pedagogical practices, Ohio State University, Columbia, OH.

Niyogi, C 2006, Reorienting Orientalism, Thousand Oaks, CA, SAGE.

Oueijan, N B n.d., Romantic Orientalism LU lecture, retrieved from Lebanon Notre Dame University. Web.

Shelley, P B 1815, Alastor, or the spirit of solitude. Web.

Shelley, P B 1818, Ozymandias. Web.

Thomas, M C 2012, Orientalists, propagandists, and illustrators: Filipino scholarship at the end of Spanish Colonialism, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI.

Uddin Khan, J 2008, Shelleys Orientalia: Indian elements in his poetry, ATLANTIS. Journal of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies, vol.30 no.1, pp. 3551.

Varisco, D M 2007, Reading Orientalism: said and the unsaid, University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA.

Until his death, Edward Said was a professor of comparative literature at Columbia University. He was also a Middle East activist, a scholar, and an eminent person in postcolonial studies. Born in 1935, his mother was Lebanese and his Father Palestine.

He started his education in Egypt and later moved to the United States where his father had acquired citizenship. He gained reputation as an intellectual. As a fellow at Stanford University, he published his most acclaimed piece of writing, Orientalism, a book that has provided fodder for debate in many disciplines.

This essay will expound on Saids Orientalism and the relation between the orient and occident.

According to Said, Orientalism is a collection of suppositions and dogmas defining Western (American and Europe) perception and attitudes towards the Middle East (117). The west has been consistent in its prejudice against the Islamic people.

The Middle East culture was glamorized in the western culture to the extent that European and American imperialists found it justifiable to pursue their colonial interests there. What makes Said angry is the realization that some Arabs elite have been brainwashed to accept this misconceptions about Arab culture (97)

Western scholars who study Asian affairs have formed a body of knowledge that is based on generalization rather than objective facts. An irrational behavior by one person in the East is used as a basis for defining the entire society.

In their hasty generalization, the scholars document these archetypes and sell them as literary texts. These texts form the foundation of historical records. The West therefore defines itself in its definition of the East. If the East is lazy and crude, then the West is hard working and civilized. It is the Wests duty to civilize the East.

The notion of us and them is entrenched and the two are viewed as being antithetical. In the contemporary world, the West views the East in terms of oil and Islam. The later is sometimes equated to terrorism.

A further illustration of how the East is defined is the coinage of the world Mohammedianism, obviously borrowed from its Christian equivalent, Christianity (Varisco, 305).

Occident refers to the countries of Europe and North America. Varisco argues that occident and orient have been constructed as opposite terms (306). While the West stands for everything good, virtues and respect, the East is the direct opposite.

Occident reporters and scholars misrepresent the East and, therefore, propagate the notion that it is the moral duty of the West to control or regulate the people of Middle East (Malcolm, 545).

Chapter 1 of Orientalism traces the development of Orientalism as dating back to the early interactions between the West and the East. The Orientalist (Western scholar) was fast to form an impression that Arabs were uncivilized.

The scholars sent by their respective countries of the West to stay with the Arabs in the Middle East generalized the cultures of the natives as inferior. They also stereotyped Arabs as lazy, crude, and incapable of governing self. The natives culture was viewed in terms of the western culture.

The West, therefore, took it upon them, using the tools of power at their disposal to exercise rule and power over the East. This was the onset of colonization and imperialism (Critical Examination of Edward Saids Orientalism, par. 6)

The second chapter focuses on the over romanticized literature on the East written by scholars from the West. The literature was written for European readers. Orientalist writers and poets presented a Middle East that was naively serene and hence conducive for relaxation.

Devoid of evils, the East was considered less witty and diplomatic and ready for a fatherly figure. In any case, the West had discovered the East, not the other way round. In the same chapter, Said lashes out at Ernest Renan, a 19^th century Orientalist for perpetuating the prejudice against the Arab world (356).

The book delves into the Orientalist of the 20^th century in the third chapter. With the end of colonialism, USA was now the new frontier in Orientalism. Modern Scholars from the West are researching on languages of the East in order to help their governments come up with better policies to rule the East.

Said observes that such scholars are staying in the East, not because they appreciate their culture, but to know them better and rule over them easily (368). In spite of globalization and increased awareness, the West bias towards the East has not ended.

Arab Muslims are considered by many people in the West as terrorists. Japan is viewed, not by its tremendous improvement in many areas such as technology, but in terms of its martial arts, karate.

Said recommends that any study on the Middle East should also encompass the Middle East natives perspective and not just generalizations (360).

In summary, Orientalism is in ideology that defines the people of Middle East in terms of highly subjective and generalized suppositions. Orientalists are scholars who research on Middle East culture and other aspects.

The culture and people of Middle East have been victims of the West prejudice and bias. This is not unique to Asia. Africa too has been a victim.

Works Cited

Critical Examination of Edward Saids Orientalism 23 May 2011. Web. https://mashrabiyya.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/critical-examination-of-edward-saids-orientalism/

Malcolm, Kerr. Edward Said, Orientalism. 1980. Web.

Said, Edward. Orientalism, London: Penguin, 1997. Print.

Varisco, Martin. Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid. Journal of Islamic Studies. 20. 2 (2007): 304-306. Print.

The term orientalism originates from the Latin term oriens that refers to east and this is in contrast to the Latin occidens that refers to west; therefore, the term has been employed for the imitation and representation of different aspects Eastern cultures in the west by authors and artists.

It is important to note that the idea of the differences in culture between the East and the West can be traced back to the early Roman times in which there was an increasing opinion of the differences between Asia and Europe in terms of various aspects such as religious practices and artistic preferences.

Although the East and the West associated from early Roman times through trade activities, voyages, cultural and intellectual exchange, and although they had many things in common, the idea of orientalism got increased recognition during the late Middle Ages in which the East and the West increased their relations and endeavored to exploit one anothers territory through various exchange activities. Nonetheless, the field of orientalism underwent a drastic transformation in 1978 when Edward W. Said, a Palestinian-American scholar, exposed orientalism as a colonialist enterprise in his book Orientalism.

Even though Said study was centered only on the Islamic Middle East, he criticized orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient (Said, 15). His investigations have resulted in an enormous impact on the field of cultural studies. More so, various researchers in the other fields of traditional orientalist studies from various parts of the world have utilized his findings in undertaking their analysis.

In the famous book, Said holds that orientalism is a collection of false assumptions lying beneath Western attitudes toward the East and he asserts that it is subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture(Pryce-Jones, middle section).

Thus, he used the word to refer to the ubiquitous Western tradition, both scholarly and artistic, of bigotry understandings of the East, formed through the mindset of European imperialism that was common during the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, and he was critical both of this scholarly tradition and of some modern scholars who held the traditional opinion on orientalism.

Said maintained that the long culture of deceptive and romantic impressions of Asia and the Middle East in Western culture had played a pivotal role in justifying the Europeans as well as the Americans colonial and imperial pursuits, and he sternly objected to the practice of some Arab elites who internalized the western orientalists views concerning the Arabic culture.

Said takes note of the stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims that exists in the western world in that, the Moslems and the Arabs are essentially seen as either oil suppliers of potential terrorists and this has resulted to a series of crude, essentialized caricatures of the Islamic world that has been portrayed in such as manner to make the world vulnerable to military aggression (Said, para.1).

According to Said, the U.S. and the British investigation of Islamic civilization was rooted in political intellectualism bent on self-assertion instead of objective investigation; thus, he maintained that western ideologies on the orient, having opinions of the East provided in them, are suspect, and cannot be accepted without further scrutiny.

He views western investigation on Islamic civilization as a type of racial discrimination as well as a means of imposing imperialist domination and that the history of European colonial rule and political domination over the East disfigures even the views of the most ardent western orientalists. The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europes 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 (Said, 1).

Said asserted that the U.S. and Britain had discriminated the Islamic world in both art and literature since ancient times, and that even in the modern times, their ideologies have dominated the Arabic world politically such that even the most superficially objective Western literature on the East have been pervaded with a unfairness that Western scholars cannot distinguish.

He points out that Western researchers were tasked with the responsibility of investigating and representing Asias past from a perspective of their own. And, in doing this, they failed to recognize that the East also had the ability to represent its languages, history, and culture in a manner that suits it best without outside interference. The Western scholars have interpreted the Easts culture in a way that makes Europe to appear as the standard, from which the foreign orient moves away.

According to Pryce-Jones, Said viewed the highly eclectic western scholars as engaging in a long-drawn plot, worldwide but not visible, to establish the supremacy of the West by depicting an East not only inferior but static and incapable of change. And, at bottom, here was the vulgar Marxist concept that knowledge serves only the interest of the ruling class (para. 11).

Works Cited

Pryce-Jones, David. Enough Said. Newcriterion.com. The New Criterion, 2008. Web.

Said, Edward W. Islam through western eyes. The Nation, 1980. Web.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York; London: Penguin, 1995. Print.

Williams, Patrick, ed. Edward Said, 4 volumes. Thousand Oaks, CA; London: Sage, 2001. Print.

Until his death, Edward Said was a professor of comparative literature at Columbia University. He was also a Middle East activist, a scholar, and an eminent person in postcolonial studies. Born in 1935, his mother was Lebanese and his Father Palestine.

He started his education in Egypt and later moved to the United States where his father had acquired citizenship. He gained reputation as an intellectual. As a fellow at Stanford University, he published his most acclaimed piece of writing, Orientalism, a book that has provided fodder for debate in many disciplines.

This essay will expound on Saids Orientalism and the relation between the orient and occident.

According to Said, Orientalism is a collection of suppositions and dogmas defining Western (American and Europe) perception and attitudes towards the Middle East (117). The west has been consistent in its prejudice against the Islamic people.

The Middle East culture was glamorized in the western culture to the extent that European and American imperialists found it justifiable to pursue their colonial interests there. What makes Said angry is the realization that some Arabs elite have been brainwashed to accept this misconceptions about Arab culture (97)

Western scholars who study Asian affairs have formed a body of knowledge that is based on generalization rather than objective facts. An irrational behavior by one person in the East is used as a basis for defining the entire society.

In their hasty generalization, the scholars document these archetypes and sell them as literary texts. These texts form the foundation of historical records. The West therefore defines itself in its definition of the East. If the East is lazy and crude, then the West is hard working and civilized. It is the Wests duty to civilize the East.

The notion of us and them is entrenched and the two are viewed as being antithetical. In the contemporary world, the West views the East in terms of oil and Islam. The later is sometimes equated to terrorism.

A further illustration of how the East is defined is the coinage of the world Mohammedianism, obviously borrowed from its Christian equivalent, Christianity (Varisco, 305).

Occident refers to the countries of Europe and North America. Varisco argues that occident and orient have been constructed as opposite terms (306). While the West stands for everything good, virtues and respect, the East is the direct opposite.

Occident reporters and scholars misrepresent the East and, therefore, propagate the notion that it is the moral duty of the West to control or regulate the people of Middle East (Malcolm, 545).

Chapter 1 of Orientalism traces the development of Orientalism as dating back to the early interactions between the West and the East. The Orientalist (Western scholar) was fast to form an impression that Arabs were uncivilized.

The scholars sent by their respective countries of the West to stay with the Arabs in the Middle East generalized the cultures of the natives as inferior. They also stereotyped Arabs as lazy, crude, and incapable of governing self. The natives culture was viewed in terms of the western culture.

The West, therefore, took it upon them, using the tools of power at their disposal to exercise rule and power over the East. This was the onset of colonization and imperialism (Critical Examination of Edward Saids Orientalism, par. 6)

The second chapter focuses on the over romanticized literature on the East written by scholars from the West. The literature was written for European readers. Orientalist writers and poets presented a Middle East that was naively serene and hence conducive for relaxation.

Devoid of evils, the East was considered less witty and diplomatic and ready for a fatherly figure. In any case, the West had discovered the East, not the other way round. In the same chapter, Said lashes out at Ernest Renan, a 19^th century Orientalist for perpetuating the prejudice against the Arab world (356).

The book delves into the Orientalist of the 20^th century in the third chapter. With the end of colonialism, USA was now the new frontier in Orientalism. Modern Scholars from the West are researching on languages of the East in order to help their governments come up with better policies to rule the East.

Said observes that such scholars are staying in the East, not because they appreciate their culture, but to know them better and rule over them easily (368). In spite of globalization and increased awareness, the West bias towards the East has not ended.

Arab Muslims are considered by many people in the West as terrorists. Japan is viewed, not by its tremendous improvement in many areas such as technology, but in terms of its martial arts, karate.

Said recommends that any study on the Middle East should also encompass the Middle East natives perspective and not just generalizations (360).

In summary, Orientalism is in ideology that defines the people of Middle East in terms of highly subjective and generalized suppositions. Orientalists are scholars who research on Middle East culture and other aspects.

The culture and people of Middle East have been victims of the West prejudice and bias. This is not unique to Asia. Africa too has been a victim.

Works Cited

Critical Examination of Edward Saids Orientalism 23 May 2011. Web. https://mashrabiyya.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/critical-examination-of-edward-saids-orientalism/

Malcolm, Kerr. Edward Said, Orientalism. 1980. Web.

Said, Edward. Orientalism, London: Penguin, 1997. Print.

Varisco, Martin. Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid. Journal of Islamic Studies. 20. 2 (2007): 304-306. Print.

The Asian world has always been a mystery for the Western civilization; the former lives according its own laws which the European culture conceive completely, envisions the world, its origins and the way its elements intertwine in harmony in a slightly different way than the Western civilization does; in addition, the Oriental culture uses a range of symbolic which is completely alien to the Western world and can be hardly associated with anything, while triggering a chain of emotions within the heart of an Oriental dweller.

However, either because of its colorfulness and vividness, or because these details stir peoples imagination so easily and with such tremendous effect, the Oriental themes, especially in poetry, were extremely popular in the Era of Romanticism, making the fascination with the Eastern world one of its key features.

As Carruthers and Rawers (2003) explain, Romantic Orientalism has historically been written and read from a European perspective (p. 117). Because of the impact of the epoch, Ozymandias and Alastor, Percy Bische Shellys two most famous poems, display a considerable amount of details which can be referred to as the explicit manifestations of Orientalism.

One of the first things that fall into the eye of the reader at the very beginning of the poems is the unusual names, Ozymandias and Alastor. The former, interpreted as Ramesses throne name, sends the reader into the heat of the Egyptian sun and, thus, makes one plunge into the Oriental world almost instantly.

In addition, the name also immediately riggers an entire cadence of reminiscences connected with the famous emperor, thus, setting quite tragic back-story which an experienced reader can see between the lines of the poem: In Shelleys Ozymandias of Egypt, is the Oriental potentate on the pedestal now a colossal wreck, boundless and bare because of a unique Oriental despotism? (p. 281), Varisco (2007) asks.

As for the Alastor, although the name and, thus, the subplot for the poem originates from the Roman mythology and, thus, can be hardly referred to as the one filled with Orientalism elements, there are still recognizable traces of the above-mentioned phenomenon in the poem. In addition, the sound of the name was exotic enough for the poet too use it in the same way the Oriental elements were, i.e., to shock viewers into paying attention to the hidden innuendoes in the poem.

Among the rest of the elements which point at the obvious Orientalism of both poems, the use of settings is rather wise and efficient: In Ozymandias, the author puts a special emphasis on the fact that the events take place in the desert and sand, which is basically the place most people associate with Asian settings:

Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies (Shelley, 1818)

Therefore, with the help of two words, sand and desert, Shelley managed to transfer the audience right into the heart of the Oriental world instantly. However, the chosen tactics works in the poem because it is relatively short, which is not the case for Alastor. As for the latter, Shelly refuses to use the same tactics in the poem; it must be admitted that the following scenery:

the worlds youth: through the long burning day

Gazed on those speechless shapes; nor, when the moon

Filled the mysterious halls with floating shades

Suspended he that task (para.122-126)

can actually be observed in any corner of the world. Unlike in Ozymandias, in Alastor Shelley uses rather the specific imagery than the exotic words to add Orientalism to the poem: the Arab maiden brings the food to the leading character (Shelley 1815, para.129).

The difference in the choices of the means can be explained by the fact that, unlike in Alastor, where the author had a lot of room for vast descriptions, in Ozymandias it was necessary to keep the poem short and expressive; hence, the exotic terms were used as the means to transport the audience to the Oriental settings.

Shelley obviously not only adds certain Oriental elements to the common environment, but sets his narration in a completely new environment, with its specific features. According to Uddin Khan (2008),

In Alastor, the poet-protagonists journey takes him back through human history (that is, Arabia, Persia, over the Hindu Kush mountains, which form the Indian Caucasus extending from Afghanistan to Kashmir in north-west India) to the thrilling secrets of the birth of time (p. 47)

Therefore, the poet obviously wants to capture the air of the Asian mysteries in a capsule and convey the specific flair of the Orient world to the readers. Reading the poem turns into walking across the uncharted universes and revealing its secrets; and with the help of specific details, Shelley restores the specific Asian atmosphere.

As Oueijan (n.d.) explains, In Ozymandias (18171818), Shelley asserts an antique land in order to reveal the emptiness of pomp and power (p. 8).

What particularly fascinated Shelley was the way in which Owenson uses Kashmir as a paradisal image for that ideal interior landscape of the fulfilled psyche (Hoeveler, 2006, p. 168).

However, it is worth mentioning that Shelly also avoided using the elements which he knew little about: Shelley did not go to Egypt, and neither of his Egyptian sonnets  To the Nile and of course Ozymandias  mentions the Pyramids, which is logical enough; following the tradition of Romanticism, Shelley writes about the cultures which are quite distant from the European ones and yet does not go into details, allowing the readers to restore the atmosphere of the mysterious worlds themselves.

Speaking of the major Orientalism elements in the poems, one must mention that both poems focus on rather grandeur events in the history of the Eastern world, which can also be considered another important element making the poems Orientalist. As Thomas (2012) explains,

Two specific features of Orientalism are significant both for European Orientalist studies (of India, especially) and for subsequent Indian and Filipino political-intellectual projects: first, Orientalisms focus on authoritative texts, and, second, its narrative on historical decline from ancient greatness. (25)

Indeed, Ozymandias tells about the rapid destruction of the great empire built by powerful pharaohs, which corresponds to the key concept of the Oriental literature. Likewise, Alastor touches upon the collapse of the world, yet in the case of the latter, it is not the empire, but the world of the narrator, the Poet, which is ruined:

Of the vast meteor sunk, the Poets blood,

That ever beat in mystic sympathy

With natures ebb and flow, grew feebler still (para.651-654)

Therefore, it is obvious that Shelley uses the typical Orientalism strategies to build a fully realistic universe. However, it would be a mistake to think that the elements of the Oriental culture which were used by Shelley in his poems were completely authentic; these were rather the common ideas of what the Oriental world must look like instead of its true portrayal and carefully verified details.

This is the type of the middle-eastern worlds own exotic Orientalism, for which Europe had become a late eighteenth century dependent customer (p. 48), as Niyogi (2006) put it. Taking an exotic detail and pushing it to the stage when it became almost grotesque, Shelley crated his own Oriental universe, rather impressive, yet not necessarily true to the facts.

One of the most peculiar features of the poets creations, this feature on no account should be considered as a drawback which diminishes the quality of his works, but rather a feature of the epoch, with its taste for the unknown and unraveled. Offering true details would have ruined the charm of the poems.

True gems of the era of Orientalism, Ozymandias and Alastor offer a travel into the world which hardly anyone can imagine; not only is this a travel back in time, but also an excursion into the mysterious oriental universe, the place created by Romanticists and for Romanticists.

Addressing all major elements of Orientalism, the poems still make certain changes to the traditional perception of the Oriental world and create a different universe, which are completely impeccable in their weirdness. Even despite certain inaccuracies in the description of the distant world, the poems are the pearls which are worth taking a close look at.

References

Carruthers, G & Rawers, A 2003, English Romanticism and the Celtic world, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Hoeveler, D L & Cass, J D 2006, Interrogating Orientalism: contextual approaches and pedagogical practices, Ohio State University, Columbia, OH.

Niyogi, C 2006, Reorienting Orientalism, Thousand Oaks, CA, SAGE.

Oueijan, N B n.d., Romantic Orientalism LU lecture, retrieved from Lebanon Notre Dame University. Web.

Shelley, P B 1815, Alastor, or the spirit of solitude. Web.

Shelley, P B 1818, Ozymandias. Web.

Thomas, M C 2012, Orientalists, propagandists, and illustrators: Filipino scholarship at the end of Spanish Colonialism, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI.

Uddin Khan, J 2008, Shelleys Orientalia: Indian elements in his poetry, ATLANTIS. Journal of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies, vol.30 no.1, pp. 3551.

Varisco, D M 2007, Reading Orientalism: said and the unsaid, University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA.

Ethnic groups are made up of individuals who share a common heritage. Members of an ethnic group usually live around the same region, speak the same language, and share common religion and practices. Individuals who are tribal minded can be regarded as a hindrance to full integration since they remain attached to non-normative customs, adaptations, and languages. In the past, governments have viewed ethnic groups as a problem.

This is because their customs do not allow them to fit into national governments. Some have a nomadic lifestyle, meaning that they usually move from one place to another with little regard for borders. Their customs are considered as not civilized by national governments. However, all this has changed as ethnic groups have become a tourist attraction. Governments are now encouraging the preservation of ethnic cultural traditions. This is going to be very helpful to these groups.

Even though tourists bring change and sometimes, result in harmful effects on ethnic culture, their benefits outweigh their disadvantages. With increase in tourism, ethnic groups do not have to migrate in search for work. They can sell their cultural goods right in their home areas. They can also earn a living from their cultural traditions like dancing and singing. Their earnings help them to incorporate a different kind of education into their cultural learning.

Long-term effects of tourism usually result in integration of the tourists into the local communities. This could be of benefit to the local culture, although there are also a number of disadvantages associated with such integration. In addition, integration may result in dilution of the language, a change in customs, or a lack of practice altogether as ethnic groups are too busy taking care of tourists. This is helpful because in the long run, change is always good.

Orientalism is a term used in reference to a style of thought based on a distinction between the orient and the west. Orientalism is usually depicted by artists, written about by novelists and poets and discussed by philosophers and theorists. Orientalism is believed by some to be a stereotypical imitation of the eastern culture.

Orientalism is a big factor in our society. The orient is seen as the centre of languages and civilization in Europe. Its study borrows from the past, and integrates the present and the future. To some scholars, such areas of study areas as anthropology appears highlight how the orient differs from the west.

Orientalism is a factor in the political and economic development of the west. The study and understanding of the orient is firmly rooted in the western doctrine and as such, it grants the west control of the resources in the east. Orientalism is also a factor worth of consideration when it comes to religious prejudice. In this context, orientation endeavours to depict Islam in a negative and stereotypical way.

Orientalism affects our travel fantasies and attraction to ethnic tourism. The depiction of orientalism is usually exotic, alive, romantic, and sensual. Even though this may not be accurate representation of the orient, nonetheless, it draws many to travel to the east. In the recent past, however, the emergence security concerns on the east may be a hindrance to travel in those regions.

To push orientalism into a more positive study, we need to involve more scholars from the west in this debate. This would ensure that information is accurate and lacking in prejudice.

Anthropological research

Historical Way

A distinctive feature of the historical anthropological research from other methods of the studying of Islam culture within the framework of spaces and places of worship is a combination of both historiographical and architectural approaches. Through the prism of history, the specialist understands why a particular territory is sacred, when the religious structure was built, and how the locality influenced spiritual practices. Also, it is only the historical context that explains the current trends in Muslim architecture, why prayers are performed in a certain direction, and the relationship of Islam with Judaism and Christianity (“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts,” slide 5). By exploring historic sites and related sources and dates through historical way, an anthropologist can trace how Islamic and Muslim influence spread throughout the world.

Unlike other anthropological approaches, the historical study of the Qur’an provides for the researcher a wealth of information regarding the global history, philosophy, and semantic component of the first Muslim religious buildings of worship. For example, it provides anthropological data on architectural and religious projects such as Mecca, Medina, Ka’ba, Quba’ Mosque, Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock (“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts,” slide 4). The broad historical study of territories is systematically leading to further narrow research types of the corresponding local Islamic ritual activities of both Muslim communities and, therefore, ethnographic and practical methodologies. However, only the historical paradigm of anthropological research sheds light on architectural symbolism and geographical significance.

Ethnographic Way

Ethnographic anthropological study approaches Islamic culture in a more focused and comprehensive manner, therefore, it has several stages and objects of research. It includes fieldwork on mosques, research on their mutual influence on the local community, communication with both an ethnic majority and minorities, as well as with religious leaders (Lee 145). The mosques fieldwork enables the researcher to understand through ethnographic research how Islam as ideology empowers the local community to organize economic and social processes towards gradual improvement. A study of the mutual social influence of religious buildings and the local community, impossible by means of other anthropological ways, explains how mosques become centers of urban areas, and strengthen the position of Islam. An ethnographic approach starts a dialogue of an anthropologist with an ethnic majority and minorities to understand how Islam is perceived from the perspective of the upper, middle, and lower classes. This approach also makes it possible to identify the principles of Islam spreading among different social strata, which is difficult to classify through historical and practical ways.

The most exciting and exclusive stage of ethnographic research is interviewing current local religious leaders. It is because they not only communicate with different representatives of the local community but also keep local religious traditions, such as the Black Sunni movement in the US (Lee 148). Internal and external in-depth and detailed study of the cultural aspects of a particular Muslim community in the current period is a unique part of the ethnographic methodology. Still, such a narrow focus does not allow comparisons with other branches of Islam.

Practical Way

A practical or ritual methodology explores the role that Muslim places of worship play and their architectural characteristics for Islamic religious activities. It is the anthropological technique that answers the question of why Muslims consider some religious buildings more important than others and investigates changes in the ritual component depending on the place. In other words, unlike other anthropological ways, ritual research focuses on the philosophical and mystical designation of places of worship. For example, using a practical method, an anthropologist can explain the relationship between the size of the street around Ka’ba and the SA ‘Y rite, which is a circular run of a religious crowd (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 5). Only the ritual perspective can shed light on how pilgrimage and subsequent rituals form a specific psychological state of the believer, which leads to religious ecstasy.

The practical nature of anthropological research also has its drawbacks. First of all, it is worth noting that an anthropologist can conduct research only on the current religious tradition. It is due to the fact that believers consider and adhere to current rite norms as the only true ones because previous practices can be regarded as obsolete, unacceptable, or blasphemous. Also, some religions, one of which is Islam, are characterized by a high degree of conservatism in visiting unbelievers in places of worship (“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts,” slide 5). It means that the researcher has to write their research based on the words of third-party sources, which negatively affects the overall quality and reliability of the anthropologic work.

Islamic culture

Historical Way

The historical way to the exploration of Islamic culture focuses on the study of sacred texts, certain events, compiling their chronology, and segmenting into conceptual time periods. For example, the Hajj ritual or pilgrimage is divided on the basis of the chronology of the Qur’an into the pre-Islamic, Islamic and post-Prophetic stages (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 2). This methodology allows a unique technique of tracing the cultural origins, background, external and internal factors that influenced the way Hajj was perceived then, which cannot be explored using other approaches. It is impossible to find out about the initial political, economic, and social motives of various events, which are later interpreted by believers in the form of worship, such as Ashura, through other anthropological research methods (“Commemorating the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn,” slide 6). Through the historical prism, researchers see the multiple paths of the development of Islamic philosophy, both in broad directions, such as Sunni and Shiite branches, as well as in more minor and local movements.

Pluralistic Way

Unlike other research methodologies, a pluralistic approach is aimed to compare the similarities and differences of various Muslim rites, both in terms of execution and semantics. For example, Hajj differs from other types of worship in its more considerable significance, as well as more complex qualitative and quantitative components (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 5). Through a general global comparison, which is a unique feature of pluralistic research, the anthropologist understands the genuine significance of a pilgrimage, among other rituals, for the lives of Islamic believers. The pluralistic approach is primarily based on the ritual method and the general empirical technique of the researcher. It is worth noting that it is most noticeable in the work of Hounet, who, using two anthropological methods, highlighted the regional differences of the Algerian religious ritual Ma’ruf (50). The pluralistic approach allows highlighting key cultural events for Muslims in Islamic culture, which may seem insignificant when studying historical documents or personal participation. However, unlike the other anthropological methods, it does not delve into Islamic religious mysticism.

Practical Way

A practical, or ritual, methodology explores the Muslim worship that occurs in the current period of this Islamic paradigm, which makes it similar to the ethnographic, pluralistic, and empirical approaches. When appealing to the practical way, anthropologists often categorize rituals into conceptual categories such as actions, sequences, symbolic repertoire, and discursive practices (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 5). Only this unique ritual categorization allows the researcher to determine the functional component of each ritual episode and to differentiate a specific rite within the framework of its religious and cultural layers. It is the principle of multiple parallel classifications that distinguishes the practical way from other anthropological study types. There are two more additional principles of phased anthropological research such as the division into individual and social spiritual practices, and the transitional concept. By dividing into pre-liminal, liminal, and post-liminal activities, anthropologists examine ritual interconnections, and how they affect believers (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 8). Also, only a practical approach allows the researcher to look at changes in the social status of believers and the role of each gender group during worship.

Empirical Way

The empirical principle of the research of Islamic culture involves interviewing and studying written documents and personal notes of believers through the prism of subjective experience. The empirical way is a combination of historical and ethnographic approaches, since these techniques also serve as the basis for the methods which were described above. The unique criterion for this methodology is the knowledge of multiple languages, which allows the specialist to conduct a linguistic research and understand the fundamental concepts of Islam, such as the “prayer” (“Understanding ‘Prayer’ in Muslim Contexts,” slide 6). Often, this type of research is the primary familiarization stage for the anthropologist on the way to practical and historical methods. Being an anthropological introduction to other research ways, the empirical study informs the anthropologist about the allowed and forbidden words, gestures, and practices of a particular branch of Islam or the Muslim community.

A unique feature of empirical anthropological study is its sampling principle. Both the living Islamic believers and those who have passed are of anthropologist’s interest, and historical figures are considered as an object of research. At its core, empirical research is more ethnographic, which may also be used by the researcher within the framework of an individual or their memoirs (“Spaces of Ritual & Worship,” slide 16). Even semi-mythical and mythical personalities, from the point of view of such disciplines as historiography and theology, fall into the field of the empirical approach to anthropological research. However, it is also a drawback compared to other research methodologies, since this unique convention may interfere with the reliability and objectivity of the study.

Orientalism and the Historical and Contemporary Representations of Islam and Muslims

Orientalism, developed by Edward Said, represents another approach to the study of Islam and Muslims in addition to the methods of subjective experience, practices, historical development, and differences and similarities. Orientalism implies two anthropological paradigms, namely, “Western approach to the Orient,” where Orient refers to Muslim culture, and “collection of dreams, images, and vocabulary,” which means historical mentality, art, and language (“Orientalism,” slide 2). Both of these anthropological branches are based on the principles of a superior culture, of which is the West-centric perspective, and the denial of Eastern civilizational development as an independent phenomenon. Orientalism presents a view of modern Islam and Muslims as a chaotic set of ethnic and cultural components that have accumulated in the Eastern civilization. Said formulates such a historical understanding of Islamic culture only as part of world history, a peculiar forerunner, or an offshoot of the European way. The goal of Said’s theory is to find an anthropological solution to overcome the philosophical confrontation between the West and the East and ultimately gain a new identity, which should become the core of a new culture.

Examples of Islamophobia from Course

Specific philosophical themes and patterns of Orientalism, and, consequently, Eurocentrism, which such researchers as Said adhere to, are still visible in the paradigm of the disciplines of historiography and anthropology. For example, Said believes that Egyptian history was only a transitional stage of Western civilization towards modern Europe and the US, which he considers to be the peak, but not the limit, of humankind (“Orientalism,” slide 16). There is no denying the existence of presupposition in modern historiography that such a civilization chain as from Sumer to Egypt and later to Phoenicia is considered a prerequisite for Ancient Greece. Islamophobia is also present in relation to more specific and later historical events directly related to the cultural and territorial expansion of Islam and Muslims. The Muslim conquests during which Islamic culture spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa have long been seen as a period of tyranny and destruction of the original Egyptian, Persian, and Byzantine civilizations. These views primarily exist due to such cultural vestiges of the nineteenth century as imperialism, Christian tradition, the theory of evolution, and philosophical movements of Freud and Jung.

Despite the US and Europe’s current focus on multiculturalism, tolerance, and open borders policy, Orientalism is still characteristic of the Western social mentality and political decision-making mechanism. One of the manifestations of Islamophobia was measures to ban the wearing of facial veils in Canada, and similar prohibitions also occurred in other countries, such as France and Germany (“Orientalism,” slide 19). These steps are caused by the Western cultural position, which sees itself as a superior paradigm that can dictate certain social norms to the representatives of minority cultures. Another reason is the ethnic prejudices of Europeans and Americans related to the generalization of the stereotype that all Muslims are radical, aggressive conquerors whose goal is to destroy the West.

Examples of Islamophobia from Personal Study

Cases of orientalist behavior, Islamophobia, and related discrimination occur not only in Western but also in Eastern European communities. The epicenter of the negative cultural phenomena that are listed above is Poland. In his essay, Buchowski talks about how radical right-wing groups, whose members are mainly male youth, organize attacks on Muslims, Indian migrants, and their businesses (519). This behavior is due to the historical past, throughout most of which Poland was in conflict with the Ottoman Empire, and then was divided by the European powers, which became the foundation of the Polish mentality. Also, due to the Catholic tradition and participation in the Eastern Bloc, which created a social gap with Western Europe, the Poles consider themselves true bearers of the original Western traditional values.

Researchers are also exploring the problem of Orientalism and Islamophobia from a Muslim perspective. For example, Bayrakli and Hafez explore the paradox of the perception of national identity and patriotism in Western countries (7). Many Muslim immigrants and their descendants living in Europe sincerely associate themselves with the state of residence; however, the Islamophobic sentiments of the indigenous population impede the process of cultural integration. The reason for this is that some Europeans perceive their culture as central, and everyone else for them are barbarians, unable to reach their level. Ancient Greeks adhered to a similar cultural and foreign policy paradigm in the past.

Works Cited

Bayrakli, Enes, and Farid Hafez. “The State of Islamophobia in Europe.” European Islamophobia Report, 2016, pp. 5-10.

Buchowski, Michał. “A New Tide of Racism, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia in Europe: Polish Anthropologists Swim Against the Current.” American Anthropologist, vol. 119, no. 3, 2017, pp. 519-523.

“Commemorating the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn.” 2019. PowerPoint Presentation.

Hounet, Yazid Ben. “The Ma‘ruf: An Ethnography of Ritual (South Algeria).” Ethnographies of Islam: Ritual Performances and Everyday Practices: Ritual Performances and Everyday Practices, edited by Baudouin Dupret, Edinburgh University Press, 2012, pp. 50-61.

Lee, Victoria J. “The Mosque and Black Islam: Towards an Ethnographic Study of Islam in the Inner City.” Ethnography, vol. 11, no. 1, 2010, pp. 145-163.

“Orientalism. Representations of Islam and Muslims.” PowerPoint Presentation.

“Places of Prayer and Worship in Muslim Contexts.” PowerPoint Presentation.

“Spaces of Ritual & Worship: Hajj.” 2020. PowerPoint Presentation.

“Understanding ‘Prayer’ in Muslim Contexts.” PowerPoint Presentation.

Introduction

We live with and come across stereotypes in our average day to day experiences. Stereotypes come in many forms. A lady walking alone in a dark alley at night may see a bulky tattooed man in a leather jacket and give him a wide berth. Stereotypes can be harmless or on the other hand they can be very damaging.

The ‘West’ and ‘Asia’ have been on a collision course for centuries now. The two stand at extremely opposite and distant poles, constantly accusing the other of undermining their authority and casting each other in a negative light. One of the two is always at fault, with both parties always in denial of accusations that are leveled at them.

But who exactly is represented by the ‘West’ or the ‘occident’ and the ‘Asia’ or the ‘orient’? What stereotypes do the two sides have each other, what fuels the antagonism that lies between these two, and what is the role of tradition in fostering the unwavering enmity?

By looking at the works of four respected scholars who have dedicated their lifetimes to studying these stereotypes, and whose personal lives have in one way or the other been shaped by being from the ‘West’ or the Orient, I will try to answer the questions above in an attempt to shed light on the animosity and deep antagonism that there is between the ‘West’ or ‘Asia’.

What constitutes the ‘West’ and the ‘Orient’?

For one to fully perceive what one is, one has to have another with who to compare and contrast his/her attributes with, and weigh them against his own. This is very natural to the human nature. The understanding of ‘self’ is pegged on the understanding of the ‘other’- the person, or group of people with whom we choose to compare our own abilities, traits and beliefs. The tendency to look down upon this ‘other’, to dig up their faults and shortcomings so as to make us feel superior is also natural to us. We are more receptive to those who fall within our own social groups than those who fall into another category and whom we tend to treat with suspicion and hostility (Hobson & Ranger, 1992).

When it comes to ‘Orientalism’ first coined by Edward Said in his 1978 book of the same name, it was a term he used in reference to the West’s perception of Asia, particularly the Arab world as related to how the West has interacted with Asia in history (Said, 1978). Said asserts that the universally recognized and most accepted assignment for Orientalism is entirely academically inclined and this assignment is rigidly adhered to within academic circles such as institutions of learning. He further insists that any individual who engages in the Orient in one way or the other; be it through general or specified administration of learning, research and writing, irrespective of their field of study; anthropology, history, philosophy, is effectively categorized as an orientalist and by his actions, practices orientalism (Said, 1978, pg. 4)

According to Said, the Orient, which is physically adjacent to the West, has played the role of the ‘Other’ for the latter. The West colonized the Orient yet it was a source for what came to define Western culture

Said says that the West has fabricated a history and culture for the Orient, because the Orients themselves who are ignorant and backward are not in a position to fully understand their own history. This, exerts Said, has resulted in a breach between the truth of what the Orient actually is and what the West portrays it to be (Said, 1978).

The two authors Avishai Margalit and Ian Buruma look at the other side of the coin namely Occidentalism. The authors say that (Avishai & Buruma, 2004) in a limited way Occidentalism is a reaction to the kind of Orientalism that Said talks about. It is almost as if they are yin and yang to each other, only that neither side can be labeled purely evil or purely good. The authors say that there are four major ways in which Occidentalism is made manifest; the irrational loathing of urbanization and civilization which is seen as being equivalent to the hedonistic ‘Babylon’ of old, where the ancient extremes in entertainment have just been replaced with cinema, literature and popular music. The other feature of Occidentalism is a derogatory attitude towards the Western middle class who are seen as being profit oriented, individualistic, choosing comfort over personal danger and cowards in the sense that they would rather choose personal safety in place of acts of heroism at personal peril (Avisha & Buruma, 2004).

The other mark of Occidentalism, say Margalit and Buruma, is seeing abstracts such as spirit, race blood and soul as being superior to the bourgeois concepts of reason, science and rationality. Feminism, gender equity and female liberation are tenets that are rejected outright under Occidentalism because they are viewed as Western concepts (Margalit & Buruma, 2004)

What the occidentalists reject is the term of civilization and modernization as it is presented by the West, not necessarily because modernity in itself is evil or corrupt, but primarily because it belongs to the West (Margalit & Buruma, 2004).

Buruma and Margalit (2004) point out that when reference is made of the ‘West’, there is the tendency to assume that it is made in reference to America not including Europe. Foreign policy made by the U.S government has become modern day ‘Imperialism’ and American corporate power is blurred in with ‘globalization’. Hence, since America is the ‘West’, it also gets to feel the retribution for those who deem the west as the oppressors who have hindered progress and growth in their own countries.

The authors also note that Asia and the Orient is used in the context of the Middle East which are the Muslim, Arab speaking countries. This is where the Islamic extremists, the advocates of jihad are to be found. Islamic extremists believe in holy war where one’s life is inconsequential when it comes to carrying out the will of Allah. The West is their ‘devil’s advocate’ what with promoting capitalism, secularism and being the agent of globalization. These are good enough reasons for extremists to wage a holy war against the West (Buruma and Margalit, 2004).

A good example of what the antagonism between the orient and the occident has come to is the dual attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. It was primarily a symbolic attack against the pervasive reach of the U.S. and the American way of life. It is an attack made at the system itself and everything that that system stands for.

Conclusion

It is quite clear the differences between the two sides run so deep that it is a remote possibility that at some point in the future they might reconcile. The antagonism between the West and the East is so deeply rooted that it has become the norm; I think that without the west or Americans to hate on and castigate jihadists would be left at a loss because this is their purpose in life, to denounce America. The west on the other hand, has become accustomed to tailoring democracy for the East, meddling in their affairs as they dictate what is right and what is wrong for them.

Reconciliation if it were to occur would call for an overhaul of the mindsets of both the East and the West. As Hobsbawn (1992) points out, are inculcated over centuries and inbred firmly into their way of thinking. Thus, it would take as much time or more to‘re-program’ a person into thinking differently or abandoning traditions altogether.

My conclusion is that ‘East’ and ‘West’ relations are still steeped in traditions that color the perceptions both sides have of the other. There is suspicion and distrust on both sides, with none trusting the intentions of the other. The Orient accuses the West of being a greedy, individualistic, self centered lot, not given to personal sacrifice for the gain of the whole. The West, on the other hand, sees the Orients as a barbaric extremist lot. What is certain however that the war, be it cultural, social, religious economically centered is one that will have no clear victor.

Bibliography

Buruma Ian & Margalit Avishai (2004) Occidentalism: the West in the eyes of its enemies. London: Penguin Publishers.

Hobsbawn Eric, j & Ranger, Terence,O (1992) The Invention of tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Said Edward w (1978). Orientalism. NY: Routledge & Keagan.

The publication of Edward Said’s controversial book, Orientalism, was followed by heated debates surrounding the nature of Western attitudes towards the Middle East. However, the ideas he expressed are still applicable to the modern world, with the widespread stereotypes surrounding Arab people still mostly intact. Therefore, to promote cultural dialogue and fight hostility, both politicians and regular individuals in the West should question their biases regarding the Middle East.

To better understand the roots of modern manifestations of Orientalism, it is important to address its history. Said argues in his book that it started in the early nineteenth century with British and French imperialism and was mostly connected to India and the Biblical lands (Said, 2003). The notions developed at that time romanticized the Middle East formulating the ideas that are still persistent today: that Arab men are overly sensual and easily become angry, females are beautiful and submissive, and the region itself is mysterious, exotic, and lives in the past relying on centuries-old dogmas.

After World War II, Britain and France’s dominance in the Middle East came to an end, giving way to American influence. Said suggests that Orientalism can be clearly seen in Western scholarly publications dedicated to the Middle East where it is regarded merely as an object of study, “non-active” and “non-autonomous”, seen through the lenses of historical subjectivity (Said, 2003, p. 97). He claims that it resulted in some consensus of what appropriate statements and ideas concerning the Middle East are (Said, 2003). He sees Orientalism as the result of certain political efforts creating unified and convenient representation (Said, 2003). The negative views were later strengthened by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with the stereotypes becoming even more influential.

These notions continue to play an important role these days. For instance, the idea that Middle Eastern people are violent leads to many Europeans opposing immigration from Arab countries and supporting racial profiling against Arabs and Muslims (Wintour, 2017). There are also more subtle ways in which Orientalism presents itself: media often relies on stereotypes while depicting Arab characters, showing them as barbaric, terrorists, or “oil-rich sheiks” (Nittle, 2019). Therefore, Orientalism, as a patronizing, hostile, or romanticizing attitude towards Middle Easter people, is still widespread today, identifying the need for reevaluation of these common notions.

References

Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism: Western conceptions of the Orient. Penguin Modern Classics.

Wintour, P. (2017). Survey reveals scale of hostility towards Arabs in Britain. The Guardian. Web.

Nittle, N. K. (2020). Common Muslim and Arab stereotypes in TV and film. Thought Co. Web.

Orientalism is a set of historical, ideological, cultural, geographical, psychological and other implications for both Westerners and Easterners, with the latter being the actual subjects thereof.

However, it is possible to state, judging from the huge body of literature dedicated to the essence of Orientalism, the analysis of it roots and the process of its formation, that Orientalism in itself is the artificial phenomenon that has been created in the minds of Westerners performing the role of colonizers, explorers and researchers in the ‘laboratory’ of the conjugated East.

David Henry Hwang approaches the phenomenon of Orientalism from an unusual standpoint, – as a writer belonging to both China and the USA, he tries to dismiss the common stereotypes about Orientalism and to show how conventional it is in reality (Simon 117). David Henry Hwang’s play M Butterfly is a powerful, rich example of how one can show the ridicule, depth of misconceptions in an artistic way.

The central element of Hwang’s M Butterfly is the concept of stereotype in the mind of a Westerner. However, the very fact that the play utilizes the parts of the previously written Puccini’s drama Madame Butterfly, and reverses the traditional East-West the traditional roles in it, attacking the evil nature of Orientalism misconceptions, diminishing the role of gender, implies that the concept is of mental origin.

Since there is lack of motivating evidence to assert the notion of Orientalism but the colonial past of Europe, one can assume that M Butterfly is an attempt to address Orientalism not as a set of concepts about the East, but as a problem of inconsistency of the Western perception, with Orientalism being the misleading concept that has no sense behind it.

The basic tools of contrasting Orientalism and reality used by Hwang is by revolutionizing the approach to gender relationships (especially the ones of a Western man and an Oriental woman), and by deviating from the standard of submissive relationships between West (colonizer) and East (colonized).

The present work may have well been awaited from the writer like Henry Hwang, since he belongs to the category of Chinese Americans, and he seen much segregation, stereotyping, and unjust treatment in the USA due to the Orientalism limitations.

Hwang himself is a representative of “Chinese Americans,” thus having a dual identity of both a Chinese and an American. Therefore, he is reasonably interested in the roots of the east-west conflict.

As Ling and White-Parks note, though there is hardly any Chinese in the literature who is not a wooden peg, Chinese are still similar to all other people, possessing a “rapid comprehension”, “almost morbid sensitiveness”, “considerable inventive power” etc. (234-5).

Hwang directs these stereotypes and shows the deceptive power they have on Westerners, sometimes making them helpless in the nets of the Easterners who have also learnt to manipulate the Orientalism concepts for their benefit.

David Henry Hwang himself confessed that the main intent of writing M Butterfly was to explore the way two representatives of opposing cultures and worlds managed to become happy; in his editorial to the play, Hwang noted that “truthful contact between nations and lovers can only be the result of heroic effort” (The afterword by David Henry Hwang).

The reason for this was recognized by him in the fact that Western men were inclined to possess Oriental women because of the feminine, submissive stereotype they had about them in contrast to the independence, assertiveness, and even aggression of Western women (The afterword by David Henry Hwang). The attraction of Eastern women only due to the soft, feminine traits of character seems to Hwang to be the main delusion Orientalism bears, and he attacks this idea throughout his play (Cuizon).

There are many supplemental techniques to emphasize the mental origin of Orientalism, and its internal effect on Westerners. The theatrical arrangement of space in the play already suggests the mental struggle of Gallimard, and not the physical events that could have taken place in any region of the world.

The initial setting is Gallimard’s cell which he occupies during the trial for an affair with a Chinese spy. However, Gallimard does not seem disenchanted, and he still dreams of a different, happy ending to the play they acted out in real life: he wants her to return to his arms and be with him (4). It is the first manifestation against Orientalism in the play – Hwang shows that the stereotypes are so strong in the Westerner (a collective image represented by Gallimard) that he does not accept the reality even upon the publicly announced deception.

The heavy impact of Orientalism is destructive for Westerners, as it deprives them of the critical attitude to reality, making them neglect evidence certifying the notions opposite to what they believe – Gallimard does not take a critical standpoint about the reality he sees, but he is guided by western Orientalism, that is, the images connected with the East, produced by Westerners, and symbolizing inferiority of the East towards the West; the product of Western imagination (Said 56).

This fact may be proven by the opinion Gallimard officially claims he has about the East: “There is a vision of the Orient that I have. Of slender women in chong sams and kimonos who die for the love of unworthy foreign devils” (91). Later in the play Gallimard draws a parallel between what he saw in Puccini’s play and what he expects from an Oriental woman in reality:

She would cry, alone, into those wildly soft sleeves, once full of possession, now empty to collect her tears. It was her tears and her silence that excited me, every time I visited Renee (56).

The diminishing (practically disregarded, but at the same highly meaningful) role of gender in Orientalism is a vivid example of how this revelation takes place in Hwang’s critique. The Westerner becomes the captive of his own stereotypes about Oriental women, and he has nobody to blame for betrayal as he was the main liar in the story; he lied to himself and did not notice the obvious reality, living in the world of unrealistic misconceptions.

The discrepancy in the western and eastern vision of femininity, love, and women, is shown from the very start by the estimate of Gallimard that he loved a Perfect Woman (Hwang 4), while Song voices a diametrically opposite opinion later: “only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act” (63).

The main weakness of Orientalism is in its static nature – Gallimard refuses to alter his vision of Orientalism even after all dramatic events in his life; in addition, it is obvious that the deception actually took place in his mind, and the main person to blame was he and not Song.

It was Gallimard who let Song charm him, let him stay unaware of his genuine sexual identity using the stereotypes Gallimard possessed, and even manipulating those stereotypes to make their relationship strong, close, and long-lasting. This ignorance and striving to fir the surrounding life into stereotypes is the reason for which Gallimard tries to make Song what he wants her to look like in his imaginative world, in the cell of his mind: “You have to do what I say! I’m conjuring you in my mind!” (78).

The answer of Song possesses high symbolism in terms of relationships of West and East seen by Hwang – Song applies to reason and shows that submission and subjugation is impossible, as it is far in the past for the reality. S/he says to Gallimard: “Rene, I’ve never done what you’ve said. Why should it be any different in your mind?” (78).

One of the techniques Hwang uses to deconstruct the conventional Oriental images is the deconstruction of gender as a symbol, an allusion of power relationships between East and West. It is clear that Hwang sees the common themes of geisha women and evil Westerners making them commit suicide because of tragic love as a metaphor for the relationships existing on the political, economic, and social level between the two parts of the world.

As Hwang noted in his editorial, the idea of his play was to show that both Easterners and Westerners were similarly human beings, and they had the same characteristics, which presupposed they could live in peace, understanding each other – sharing “a common and equal ground” (Hwang). The present point is of significance because Westerners have always distanced themselves from Easterners by means of drawing the line of Orientalism, while proves to be wrong and misleading.

Thus, deconstructing gender means the destruction of the main Oriental plot – a weak Oriental woman and a strong Western man. The first character by means of which Hwang achieves the goal is comrade Chin who possesses no feminine charm at all, but still is a woman and has a husband (in contrast to Song).

Gallimard does not want to accept Chin as reality that destroys his idealized vision of Oriental women, so he does not want to let Chin in his dream, in his thoughts that he communicates to the audience. However, Song insists on Chin’s entrance: “Rene, be sensible. How come they understand the story without her? Now, don’t embarrass yourself” (47).

Chin performs an active position protecting her absence of femininity and showing that it is not an indispensible quality of an Oriental woman, no matter what Westerners think, thus showing that power and assertiveness can be in the hands of Oriental women as well (Hwang 72).

Power relationships between East and West are also symbolically shown in act two in terms of power relationships between Gallimard and Song – the latter curls over Gallimard’s feet in chong sam at first (though it is deceptive behavior, and Song never obeys), while several scenes later Gallimard is in the submissive, obedient position for real.

The present issues in the work have a direct relationship to rethinking Orientalism – though Westerners believe in the submission of the East, it may struggle for its identity, it may be the ruler and the winner as well. By these images, Hwang attacks stereotyping and shows that everything changes dynamically, with the defeated becoming winners with time, and vice versa.

In conclusion, one should state that the critique of Orientalism by Hwang is a powerful play in which the author manages to deconstruct the main assumptions of Orientalism by means of de-essentializing gender (shifting the power relationship in the bond of Song and Gallimard, showing Chan as a masculine image, exposing the deceptiveness of Oriental femininity in the words of Song etc.), by creating extreme gender ambiguity, and symbolizing the ambiguity of power relationships this way.

The idea of misconception and stereotype as a psychological problem stands out in the progress of the play, and shows how deeply embedded stereotypes may ruin the person’s life once skillfully used and nurtured. Surely, one can see that Hwang himself is the direct participant of Orientalism, as the ending still brings no consensus, no peace and no salvation for the participants.

The characters are not multi-faceted, they are the soft and superficial French who does not possess the basic knowledge about the Eastern culture to unveil the deception at the very start, and the wicked, clever, and wile Oriental man who makes an advantage of the French ignorance for the sake of spying for the Chinese government.

The conflict remains, though it is reversed; the power relationships, the superiority and inferiority relationships remain, thus implying the attempt to look at the Orientalism from another angle, but not to dismiss it completely.

Works Cited

Cuizon, Gwen. ‘M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang’. Bukisa. 15 Dec. 2008. Web.

Hwang, David Henry. M Butterfly. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service Inc., 1988. Print.

Hwang, David Henry. The afterword by David Henry Hwang. 1988. Web.

Ling, Amy, and Annette White-Parks. Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings. Champaign, IL: University of Chicago Press. 1995. Print.

Said, W. Edward. Orientalism. New York, NY: Vintage Books. 1979. Print.

Simon, John. ‘Finding Your Song’. The New York Magazine, special issue II, 11 April 1988, pp. 117-118. Print.