Orientalism

From Geography

Orientalism is a book published in 1978 by Edward Said that has been highly influential and controversial in postcolonial studies and other fields. In the book, Said effectively redefined the term "Orientalism" to mean a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the Middle East.

“Orientalism as both a discourse and a ‘corporate institution’ for the production and domination of ‘the Orient’” (Said, in Gregory, D., Johnston, R., Pratt, G., Watts, M., Whatmore, S., 2009, p 513)

Orientalism in general is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West. "Orientalism" refers to the Orient or East, in contrast to the Occident or West. In the 19th century the term was generally used to refer to the works of artist specialized in "Oriental" subjects (Said, 2009).

The Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said published in 1978 his influential and controversial book, Orientalism, which gives an other meaning to the term 'orientalism'. He used the term to describe a pervasive Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the East, shaped by the attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Said was critical of both this scholarly tradition and of some modern scholars, particularly Bernard Lewis. Edward Said's Orientalism forms an important background for postcolonial studies. This publication launched an international debate in which other post-colonial critics, such as Gayatri Spivak and Homi Bhabha, have engaged (Morin, 2011). His work highlights the inaccuracies of a wide variety of assumptions as it questions various paradigms of thought which are accepted on individual, academic, and political levels. The book Orientalism demonstrated how European colonialism and American geo-politics worked together to dispossess Palestinians of their homeland (Morin, 2011). Said’s idea in Orientalism is to use humanistic critique to start a long term debate regarding thinking, to replace the short term imprisoning way of thinking. By humanism he does not mean an isolated human, but rather one that is dynamic and has a sense of community (Said, 2003). The contention of Said is that Orientalism is a fundamental political doctrine over the Orient because the Orient was weaker than the West (Said, 1978).

Imaginative geographies

Said’s notion of the ‘Imaginative geographies’ within colonial discourse formed the basis of his book Orientalism. Imaginative geography to Said is the invention and construction of geographical space beyond a physical territory. This forms boundaries regarding our consciousness and attitudes (Said, in Morin, 2011, p 339). According to Said Orientalism was not an European fantasy of the Orient, but created a body of theory and practice in which there has been a considerable material investment (Gregory et al., 2009).

Human Geography

Said influenced human geography, with his theory of orientalism, so compelling that even for practitioners of today it is most useful (Morin, 2011). Morin continues; While geographers have long-understood imperialism and colonialism as conceptualized geography, Said theorized the cultural processes in supporting colonial or imperial control over people and place. Said was not the only one who studied Orientalism, but his method differed in a way that he laid his focus on totalizing essentialism, ethnocentrism, and racism in relation to the Orient (Morin, 2011). Said showed, in a Foulcauldian move, how stereotyped representations stood for ‘knowledge’ and were deeply embedded in the exercise of authoritarian power. 


Criticism

Critiques on Said’s work, according to Morin (2011) on Orientalism were based on Said’s own subjectivity in relation to his published work. She continues; “A number of Islamic and Arabic specialist criticized Orientalism as unnecessarily politicising scholarships on the Orient. These critics claimed that knowledge of the Orient produced by Western scholars was well intentioned and ‘disinterested’ politically. A second notion of critique was that Said neglected gender as an analytical framework. Feminist intervened and made some key advances on Orientalism (Morin, 2011). A third critique argues that Said is not consistent about the ‘real’ existence of the Orient; “On one hand, Said argued that Orientalism is a misrepresentation of the ‘real’ Orient, in which case Orientalism is a type of ideological knowledge in a Marxian sense. On the other, Said followed the logic of discourse theory in implying that no ‘real’ Orient exists, and is solely a Western construct, an imaginative geography” (Clifford, in Morin, 2011, p 343).

In addition The Dictionary of Human Geography by Gregory et al. (2009) gives some important remarks on Orientalism:

• Orientalism is not a synonym for colonial discourse.
• Orientalism is not cut from a single cloth: there are different Orientalisms and different ‘Orients’.
• There are significant differences between the collective authors of Orientalism.
• Orientalism is not a simple projection of the will of power.
• Orientalism is a gendered and sexualized discourse.
• Orientalism produces other ‘natures’ as well as other ‘cultures’.
• Orientalism is not confined to texts.

Present

Even now there exist imaginative geographies of Orientalism. First, a techno-Orientalism is rising to describe to current economical progression of Japan and China. This represents a treat to the global economic power of Europe and the USA. Second, a neo-Orientalism is raging in the Middle East in the ‘war of terror’ against political actors, groups and organizations from Arab and Muslim communities in the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia (Gregory et al., 2009). Derek Gregory summarizes; “Seen thus, the critique of Orientalism is far more than a theoretical or textual affair: it is also a profoundly political and practical project”.

Example

Many examples of orientalism are visible in art. One example is the tulip. Tulips are originally from the Eastern. The form of the tulip has been assiociated with the turbans of Sultans in the East. One of the stories is that the sultans would wear a tulip on their turbans as a status symbol. In the 17th century, in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, a tulip-mania was born. Tulips were imported from Turkey and people bought tulips to show their status, tulips were very expensive. The tulips were also seen at many artworks, also to show a status. In this example, a domination of 'the orient' is visible: the tulip is an imitation from an aspect from the Eastern culture, in the West, in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Nowadays, the tulip is still a Dutch status symbol, international tourist are visiting the Netherlands to see Tulips.

References

• Gregory, D., Johnston, R., Pratt, G., Watts, M., Whatmore, S. (2009). The Dictionary of Human Geography, 5th edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.

• Morin, K. M. (2011). Chapter 45, about Edward Said, in Key Thinkers on Space and Place, edited by Phil Hubbard and Rob Kitchin, Second edition. Published by SAGE.

• Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. Paragraph 2.4 Edward Said from Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979, criticalpractice.weebly.com

• Said, E. (2003). Preface To Orientalism. Essay. Al-Ahram Weekly, 2009, consulted on 15-10-2011, http://zhncku.med.ncku.edu.tw/religion/adm/cake_adm/upload/photo/x837072750.PDF

• Tulpenmanie in de 17e eeuw. (n.d.). Vinddatum 24 oktober 2012, op http://www.histotheek.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1156&Itemid=73

• Oriëntalisme: De Tulp. (n.d.) Vinddatum 24 oktober 2012, op http://collectie.boijmans.nl/nl/onderwijs/orientalisme/

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