In a very simple word, Orientalism is a lens through which people view the world which presents the “West” as being dominant over, or more civilized than, the “East.” However according to a book “Orientalism”, written by Edward Said, he defines it as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, ‘mind,’ destiny and so on.” It is a culturally imposed system of thought that controls what can be said, written and understood about the Orient from a Western perspective. A way of seeing imagines, emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S. It often involves cultures other than Western culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized, and at times dangerous.
Orientalism provided a rationalization for European colonialism based on a self-serving history in which “the West” constructed “the East” as extremely different and inferior, and therefore in need of Western intervention or “rescue”. The goal of Orientalism is not simply to create a fictitious account of the “Eastern” world. Instead, Said stated it should be seen as “a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between ‘the Orient’ and ‘the Occident.’” In the quote below, Said furthers this thought with a statement that highlights the impressive scale of this topic:
“My contention is that without examining Orientalism as a discourse one cannot possibly understand the enormously systematic discipline by which European culture was able to manage—and even produce—the Orient politically, sociologically, militarily, ideologically, scientifically, and imaginatively during the post-Enlightenment period.”
In a very simple word, Orientalism is a lens through which people view the world which presents the “West” as being dominant over, or more civilized than, the “East.” Orientalism is ultimately about power, it can be seen through the sudden fame of it in the international markets especially in China. One of the most interesting things about Hollywood’s increased dependence on international markets has been that the industry has had to slowly but seriously reconsider its audience, no longer able to depend on old assumptions that the world, and the massive viewership of China, in particular, will line up to buy the same stuff it has always been hawking.
For instance, Orientalism enlightens, the continued demonisation of Eastern men who allegedly forced their women to veil, and simultaneously also explains the Western fascination with belly-dancing over all other expressions of Arab culture. Looking from an Orientalist point of view, the Eastern men are viewed as violent, regressive and opposed to liberal thinking; the women are an object of desire. Both are reductive images which reflect not so much the reality of ‘Oriental’ men and women as they do the Orientalist’s need to place himself in a position of control over the Orient. Once we become aware of the Orientalist perspective, its manifestations are not particularly difficult to identify, and they appear everywhere.
For instance, the success of the Fast and Furious franchise and Black Panther abroad just serves as more evidence that the long-held myth that whiteness is all that viewers abroad want is simply that — a myth. But Hollywood has also made more direct if still clumsy and pandering attempts to woo Chinese audiences. Now, the markets are forcing Hollywood to think of audience other than the Westerns and give more thought on what could be offensive to other culture group and that executives and directors acknowledge them not as abstract concepts or tradition-bound communities, but as modern, messy markets.
Another example, 2015 the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute presented an exhibit that was, literally, about Asianness as an outfit. “China: Through the Looking Glass” was a sprawling exhibit about Eastern-inflected fashion from Western designers that attracted everyone’s attention and one of the most iconic moment when Rihanna stepped up wearing that yellow gown made by Guo Pei, one of the few Chinese designers featured in the exhibit, it’s striking not just for its loveliness but because it feels like an untrammelled moment of cultural intersection in a way that so much of the discussion that’s had in the film does not.
In contrast, it was an extravagant ode to orientalism, something the exhibit acknowledged in its introductory text, which explained that the aim of the show was “to propose a less politicized and more positivistic examination of Orientalism as a site of infinite and unbridled creativity.” The distance between East and West, spanning perspectives that are often perceived as monolithic and dramatically opposed, diminishes. It seemed like it was being presented in a thematically fraudulent way, pretending that something inherently political can be neutralized to make everyone involved more comfortable. Even a show that explicitly acknowledged orientalism couldn’t figure out how to talk about it.
References
Brewer, B. (2019, July 9). Orientalism as an Issue in the Media and Beyond. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://chicagomonitor.com/2019/07/orientalism-as-an-issue-in-the-media-and-beyond/.
Willmore, A. (2018, April 4). Orientalism Is Alive And Well In American Cinema. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alisonwillmore/isle-of-dogs-jared-leto-orientalism.
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