Orientalism

Emie C. Baylon, MAFaculty (for teaching demonstration purposes)

Thinking it over…. Give an example

of an “ill – thinking or bias” that Westerners or even us, Asians say about the following:

Chinese

Muslims

Examples Indian

5 – 6 They stink

Filipinos From the “land of

the maids” Too backward Always late

Indians

Filipinos

If you were one of these groups, what reactions will you have? Where could these biases have originated?

Western Biases may have originated from the absence of information about the Easterners. Also, the various Western perceptions and experiences influenced other Western nations’ thinking of the Easterners.

Objectives Discuss the concept of Orientalism

and its common themes Identify the scholars that aided in the

building of Oriental thought Compare and contrast emic and etic

perspectives in cultural studies Relate the Oriental thought to

historical and culture studies

Let’s TALK about it…

Was there knowledge of the “East” prior to the coming and colonization of different Asian territories? How do Westerners refer to the “East”? Near East, Middle East, Far East

or the Orient

Introduction to Oriental Thought

ORIENTALISM Dr. Edward Said

Orientalism and Culture Studies Professor (Columbia University)

Palestinian advocate

Ziauddin Sardar, a Persian scholar so as young students can easily understand the meat of the concept. Islamic studies

Present ARGUMENT It the study of Near, Middle and Far

Eastern societies and cultures, languages, and peoples by Western scholars.

It can also refer to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists.

BEFORE… (18th – 19th Century)

"Le Bain turc," (Turkish Bath)by J.A.D. Ingres, 1862

oriental women are “exotic, submissive and unsophisticated”

Cover of the French magazine le Japon artistique (May 1888) showing one of Hokusai's views on Mount Fuji. (Horace Vernet)

Emphasis on the “otherness“ of the Orientals (they will never be Westernized)

A View in Cairo, 1840. Oil on canvas, by David Roberts.

Orientals are people “stuck in Time”

Le Massacre de Scio (The Massacre at Chios) by Eugène Delacroix

orientals are perceived as “uncivilized people”

Arabs, 1871 (Eugene Fromentin)

orientals have a “monolithic culture”

Why is the knowledge of Oriental thought (Orientalism) important according to Said or Zardar?

Defining cultural systems: Emic perspective focuses on the

intrinsic cultural distinctions that are meaningful to the members of a given society

Putting it to our reality

Defining cultural systems: Etic perspective, relies upon the

extrinsic concepts and categories that have meaning for scientific observers (Pike, 1967)

As Asians, are we also victims of these misconceptions? In what manner?

Putting it to our reality

Putting it to our reality

What could be the relationship of this to issues like: Christian – Muslim War Stigma of the Chinese or Filipinos all over the

world Discrimination of the Arabs and other Asians all

over the world How can the knowledge of Orientalism

help us in understanding Asian History, cultures and civilizations?

Putting it to our reality

As Asians, how will the knowledge of Oriental thought improve our relationships with our Asian neighbors?

References:

Pike, Kenneth Lee (ed.) (1967), Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of Structure of Human Behavior (2nd ed.), The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton.

Said, Edward. Orientalism (1978) Pantheon Books Zardar, Ziauddin. Orientalism: Concepts in the Social

Sciences Series (1999) , Open University Press,