Edward Said and Orientalism

Foundations of Sociological Thought: Poststructuralism (2)

• Edward Said (1935-2003) was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and professor at Columbia University, considered a foundational figure in postcolonial theory.
• Key works include Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography (1966), Beginnings: Intention and Method (1974), Orientalism (1978), The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983), and Culture and Imperialism (1993).

Postcolonial Studies

• Postcolonial studies explore power dynamics arising from colonial conquests and their long-term effects.
• They examine the psychological impact of colonialism on both colonizers and colonized.
• They analyze how colonizing powers utilize language to define and categorize the colonized "Other."
• Key precursors include Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) and Gayatri Spivak (1942–). Spivak's 1988 work, "Can the subaltern speak?", is significant in this context.

The Other

• Colonization portrays the colonized as inherently inferior, weak, and evil.
• This focus on the "Other" diverts attention from the colonizers to the colonized (ADE 2021).
• The "West" (Occident) defines itself in opposition to "the Orient."
• Fanon's work highlights the psychological dimensions of colonialism.

Dimensions of Orientalism

• Orientalism encompasses academic disciplines studying "Oriental" cultures and customs (ADE 2021).
• It also includes the style of thought characterized by ideological suppositions, images, and fantasies concerning the Orient (Said, 2000).
• Orientalism served as a source of power for dominating, restructuring, and asserting authority over the Orient (Said, 1978).

Orientalism as Knowledge and Power

• Orientalism constructs the Orient as a mythical place using an "imaginative geography" created by experts (politicians, diplomats, writers, painters, scholars).
• It utilizes a vocabulary of images and notions of Asian inscrutability, legitimized by various experts, which portrays the Orient as exotic, sensual, irrational, childlike and lacking sophistication; savage and barbaric in opposition to the West (Said, 1978).
• Foucault's concept of the relationship between knowledge and power is relevant in this context.
• Cromer (cited in ADE 2021) describes Europeans as precise and logical, in contrast to the Orientals, who are deemed intellectually sloppy.

Imaginative Geographies

• Imaginative geographies are the mental representations of space, encompassing familiarity and unfamiliarity, arbitrary boundaries, and distinctions between "ours" and "theirs."
• There's a relationship between knowledge and geography.

Orientalist Representation of "The East"

• The "Oriental" is often portrayed as irrational, infantile, uncivilized, lazy, and irresponsible.
• The Orient can be feminized, emphasizing sensuality and portraying the Orientals as submissive and passive, in contrast to the "masculine" and aggressive West.

The "Othering" of the Colonized

• Colonization depicts the native as the epitome of evil.
• Indigenous societies are presented as lacking values and ethics.
• The native is viewed as the enemy of values and absolute evil (Fanon, 1961).
• The concept of othering aims to justify exploitation.

The "Orient" as Europe's Other

• The East (Orient) is viewed as inferior, unintelligent, and infantile compared to the West.
• Western cultures are perceived as superior, rational, mature, and civilized.
• Descriptions of the East include savage, uncivilized, exotic, sensual, feminine and passive. Descriptions of the West include superior, simple, rational, mature, civilized, and masculine, aggressive.

Orientalist Movement in 19th Century Art

• Orientalist art depicts stereotypical images of the Arab world, reinforcing prevalent stereotypes.
• Images include harems, fezes, monkeys, and long shisha pipes.
• The 19th-century art movement is responsible for these depictions.

Orientalism as a Myth

• Orientalism creates a mythical and fictitious, yet powerful, representation of the Orient for the benefit of Europe.
• Literature and art become instruments of imperial power, reflecting a Foucaultian knowledge/power dynamic.
• Empirical truth and local perspectives are deemed irrelevant.
• Diverse cultures are treated as a single, unsophisticated collective.

Orientalism Today

• Orientalism remains a mechanism/attitude, extending beyond the Orient to encompass cultural and social differences.
• The "West" or "global North" acts as a benchmark of "civilization."
• Modern forms of Orientalism manifest in racism, stereotypical portrayals of Muslims (e.g., as terrorists), and anxieties about the cohesion of European states.

Summary

• Postcolonial studies emphasize uncovering imperialist and colonial power.
• Colonial powers established systems of knowledge and discourse, silencing colonized subjects.
• Orientalism, as a system of thought, comprises ideas and representations of the "Other."
• Literature functioned as a tool for imperial and colonial expansion.

This quiz delves into key concepts in poststructuralism, focusing on the contributions of figures like Edward Said and the implications of postcolonial theory. It explores the dynamics of power and identity shaped by colonial histories, as well as significant works that have influenced the discourse. Test your understanding of theories surrounding the 'Other' and the lasting effects of colonization.