Name __________________________________________ Date ___________ Class _______ Period _____
Orientalism Orientalism is a term that is used by art historians, literary and cultural studies scholars for the imitation or depiction of aspects in Middle Eastern, South Asian, African and East Asian cultures (Eastern cultures). These depictions are usually done by writers, designers and artists from the West. In particular, Orientalist painting, depicting more specifically "the Middle East", was one of the many specialisms of 19th-‐century Academic art, and the literature of Western countries took a similar interest in Oriental themes.
Since the publication of Edward Said's Orientalism in 1978, however, much academic discourse has used the term "Orientalism" in reference to a patronizing Western attitude towards Middle Eastern, Asian and North African societies. In Said's analysis, the West essentializes these societies as static and undeveloped—thereby fabricating a view of Oriental culture that can be studied, depicted, and reproduced. Implicit in this fabrication, writes Said, is the idea that Western society is developed, rational, flexible, and superior.
1. What did the term Orientalism traditionally mean, and how has it’s meaning changed since the publication of Said’s book?
2. What does Said mean by “essentializing” societies? “The Orient is watched, since its almost (but never quite) offensive behavior issues out of a reservoir of infinite peculiarity; the European, whose sensibility tours the Orient, is a watcher, never involved, always detached, always ready for new examples of what the Description de l'Egypte called "bizarre jouissance." The Orient becomes a living tableau of queerness.” ― Edward W. Said, Orientalism “Arabs, for example, are thought of as camel-‐riding, terroristic, hook-‐nosed, venal lechers whose undeserved wealth is an affront to real civilization. Always there lurks the assumption that although the Western consumer belongs to a numerical minority, he is entitled either to own or to expend (or both) the majority of the world resources. Why? Because he, unlike the Oriental, is a true human being. No
better instance exists today of what Anwar Abdel Malek calls “the hegemonism of possessing minorities” and anthropocentrism allied with Europocentrism: a white middle-‐class Westerner believes it his human prerogative not only to manage the nonwhite world but also to own it, just because by definition “it” is not quite as human as “we” are. There is no purer example than this of dehumanized thought.” ” ― Edward W. Said, Orientalism
3. How do these this description of Orientalist thinking connect to the ideas of Cecil Rhodes and the practice of Colonial Exhibition? Be very specific
“To say simply that Orientalism was a rationalization of colonial rule is to ignore the extent to which colonial rule was justified in advance by Orientalism, rather than after the fact.” ― Edward W. Said, Orientalism
4. How did Orientalist thinking make it possible to justify colonization and imperialism? “Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't trust the evidence of one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission civilizatrice.” ― Edward W. Said, Orientalism
5. Do you think that British citizens felt that the imperialism engaged in by their country was justified, even beneficial, or do you think these arguments were only used as a thin excuse?
6. Do you think any countries today are guilty of similar justifications for Imperialism?