The dialectical relationship between Occident and Orient as discussed by Edward Said is a manifestation of "us versus them." According to Said, Western culture has proven to be the most ethnocentric culture because of "anthropocentrism in alliance with Europocentrism." (Said, 98). Said was born and raised in the Middle East (Jerusalem) and received his degrees from Princeton and Harvard, making him a liminal figure in the academic realm. Although such experiences grant him authority on the topic of the West's relationship to the East, his argument displays a strong partisan attitude towards Oriental culture. Orientalism is an account of the West's collective view of Eastern culture through what Said argues is a distorted lens called the Orient. Inspired by the Baconian assumption that knowledge is power, Said believes that this view has altered the reality of the people and culture of the East, inadvertently stripping them of their humanity with ethnocentric Western definitions.
With a fundamental belief that the origins of the conceptual division of Occident and Orient stem from geographic differences, he concludes that a history of misrepresentation is the culprit for the predominant Western view of an Eastern culture rife with alien and therefore dangerous sentiment. "[The] universal practice of designating in one's mind a familiar space beyond "ours" [as] "theirs" is a way of making geographical distinctions that can be entirely arbitrary." (54). This imaginative geography - "our land - barbarian land" - effectively gives a seemingly better understanding of where the "our landers" stand in the world, "by dramatizing the distances and differences between what is close and what is far away." (54).
Said argues that an image of the East as the Western antithesis has created a cultural justification for political and moral injustices throughout history. That "because the Oriental - European relationship was determined by an unstoppable European expansion in search of markets, resources, and colonies," (95) the West needed to protect its interests, and did so through "Orientalism".
Orientalism. ... Edward Said's most popular, yet most critiqued novel is Orientalism. It is an evaluation and critique of the set of beliefs known as Orientalism. ... In order to take this perspective, Said had to rediscover and research Oriental texts. ... Said believes that Orientalism functions to serve political purposes. ...
Orientalism: A Century Later Orientalism describes a concept wherein a strong cultural, racial, or political body wields power over a weaker one. ... Oriental situation in Iraq, we still cling to the tenets of division put forth by Balfour. ... Chomsky creates a portal through which the essence of Said's concept of orientalism can be discerned. ... These ideas still hold sway over the West's political motivations in the Oriental world. ... As Balfour notes, unlike the west, Orientals have never known government other than despotic rule. ...
In this paper I will be extending Nayak's model of orientalism by relating it to the experiences of Iqbal Madni (Nayak, 2006 & Ahmed, 2011). ... Second, I will have a brief synopsis of dehumanization and demonization in orientalism, and the idea of suspect communities. ... There are many different types of violence used in orientalism, the two that I will be discussing are dehumanization and demonization. ... Orientalism was very common post 9/11. ... Orientalism in Black Sites Dehumanizing and demonizing are both examples of orientalism. ...
Said, Orientalism). The term, "Orientalism," has been used for centuries by scholars, historians, and librarians alike in reference to the Middle East and the Near East. ... However, in 1978, Edward Said drastically revolutionized the meaning of The Orient with the publishing of his book, Orientalism. Today, Orientalism is used more to describe the West's patronizing views and the repercussions of such views, towards The Orient. ... We have already established a foundation on an aspect of Said's Orientalism centered around early Western scholarly dominance of creating a reality for...
Said, a professor at Columbia University, studies the flaw in the perspective of the "Orient" by the "Occident" in his essay, Orientalism. ... This sense of dominance was to be found in works of Orientalism - the works of literary writers and of academic research based on scholars who study the Orient. ... By obtaining an Oriental background myself, I understood and sympathized with Said's opinions. ... Throughout his analysis, Said fails to specifically refer to the Oriental countries other than those of the Near Orient. His examples did not include any reference to countries such as...
The pots used for drinking usually had two handles for a firmer grip and practical design There were four major periods of Greek pottery: geometric, orientalizing, black figure, and red figure. ... The next period was the orientalizing period. ... They called it the orientalizing period because the animals on the pottery were usually only found in oriental countries. The animals in orientalizing led to human pictures in black figure. ...
The situation is an example of Said's Orientalism. According to Said, Orientalism is a "Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient". There are some stereotypes to the orientals which is "the Orient and Orientals are stamped with an otherness". ... "and "Orientals cannot walk on either a road or a pavement" (Said). ... As he mentions, "the Orient and Orientals are stamped with an otherness" (Said). ...
Georgia O"Keeffe Georgia O"Keeffe was born in the late 1800's in Wisconsin. At an early age she new she was going to be an artist. In an interview, I think she said at the age of twelve she knew that that was what she wanted to be. Even at this early age, she was very independent. In the b...
