In the ancient time, all human beings were born with an equal right without any distinction between each other. However, since the word “Orient” was recorded in the Western history book, it suddenly divided the world into two groups: West and East. The word “Orientalism” has been widely discussed in the Western academic literature and the media sources since the middle of the eighteenth century. The concept of the Orient does not indicate to a geographic area but often described as a group of people who live far away from Europe in East Asia which scarcely known by the European. The West has their own set of values and finds it difficult to understand the behavior of others, in this case, the Orient.
In Gallimard’s perspective, so long as Song is Chinese, she is the Oriental woman and she would be the perfect figure to play Butterfly. That is, the distinctions between the Japanese woman and the Chinese woman are absolutely ignored since they are all labelled as the Oriental woman. The Orient in a way is probably a big region without the strictly national difference to the Occident; therefore, every
Philosophy of Orientalism suggests that the West views the East as essentially a feminine and docile region. In Madame Butterfly Pinkerton says “when I leave, she’ll know what it’s like to have loved a real man”, Pinkerton’s notion that there aren’t any real men in the East is what permits men like Gallimard and Pinkerton, who are in fact really awkward around women and not the best looking guys, to believe that they are worthy of the most attractive and perfect of Oriental women. Differences between Western masculinity and Eastern femininity is the belief of Gallimard’s that “Orientals will always submit to a greater force”. Gallimard portrays this submission as friendly and welcoming. Gallimard’s belief allows him to be deceived in
Orientalism and Post 9/11 Novels I. Introduction: Islam forms the main focus of many English writers and orientalists whose works have, to a great deal, followed the stereotypical position in presenting Islam as a retrogressive religion and Muslims as aggressive, anti-modernity, and death lovers. Such stereotypical portrayal of Islam and Muslims in general and Arab Muslims in particular, is originated from what Edward W. Said has defined as Orientalism. Orientalism as a discourse is concerned with studying the cultures of Orients and provides a rationalization for European colonialism and Western’s interventions in East. In his pioneering book, Orientalism, Edward W. Said, explains the term orientalism as the acceptance in the West of “the
1.1INTRODUCTION In its original sense, orientalism refers to the scholarly study of the history, culture, and art of the East: India, Asia and Levant (Arthur Goldwag, p.114). But through Palestinian scholar Edward said the term orientalism got an imperialistic connotation. Said in his book titled Orientalism said, “Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between “the Orient” and (most of the time) “the Occident”. Said defines the Orient as, “an idea that has a history and a tradition of thought, imagery, and vocabulary that have given it reality and presence in and for the West. The two geographical entities thus support and to an extent reflect each other” (Said 5).
Student’s Name Professor’s Name Subject DD MM YYYY ORIENTALISM Orientalism is an imagery pictured from the Western lens that visualizes differences of the Middle-east(Orient), specifically the Arab people, to the West(Occident) in terms of culture, norms, and sometimes, appearance. However, a significant amount of early oriental literature is not empirical, but imaginative. It involves seeing Arab culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized, and at times dangerous. Evolution of Orientalism The inception of Orientalism dates back to the early 19th century, however, it was revolutionized and shown in stark contrast only in 1978 by Palestinian writer, intellectual, and literary/cultural critic Edward Said in his book Orientalism. This essay will
Ilka Saal, Professor of American Literature at Universitat Erfurt, Germany authors this essay which portrays a discussion of gender and cultural stereotypes and how they are reversed by Hwang’s rewriting of the Butterfly myth in Puccini’s opera. Employing feminist and post-colonial criticism, the essay focuses on how gender and cultural relations in the play are not an immutable idea but an interaction and a performance throughout. The author follows Judith Butler in reading the cultural stereotypes, in this case the Orient and the Occident, as a daily enactment of performance. Intended for a scholarly audience, this article demonstrates how the binaries of the strong Caucasian man and docile Asian woman exist always in opposition inspite of an interaction. There is a clear recognition of misunderstandings and misconceptions which complicate the power relationships between the East and the
He says that in small part thanks to new electronic media, ranging from film to television, standardization and stereotyping of the orient has intensified the 19th century’s orientalist understanding of “the mysterious Orient.” He gives the primary example of the Middle East and the Western perception of Arabs and Islam. Of three chief reasons he gives for the growth of this problem, at least two can be directly attributed to orientalism. The first is the history of anti-Arab and anti-Islamic prejudices prevalent in the West, the third is the absence of a cultural position to identify Arabs or Islam. By creating an other, through the dichotomy between occident and orient, identification has been made near impossible, and by furthering a imperialist ideology through academic discourse for centuries, prejudices have become
Orientalism is the study of the Orient (previously India and Bible land until the early nineteenth century) or the East by Westerners which portray them (Orients) as if they are different from the West (Said E. 1977 : 1). That difference portrays the (Orients) as inferior from the Westerners putting images of the East as exotic, undeveloped, problematic, uncivilised and treating the people as subjects. Orientalism perpetuates Western dominance. (Said E. 1977 : 3) Orientalism is “thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between the “orient” and (most of the time) “the Occident.” (Said E. 1977 : 2). Orientalism leads to othering which is simply portraying the Orients as ‘others’ and as something different from the
Gallimard believes that Song “is outwardly bold and outspoken, yet her heart is shy and afraid. It is the Oriental in her at war with her Western education” (Hwang 27). Song, after all, cannot jump out from the character of the timid Oriental Butterfly and her inferior position. This conception motivates Gallimard’s desire of being the “foreign devil” and starts to drive him to deliberately do a cruel experiment on Song (Hwang 31). In addition to catching his Butterfly, Gallimard aims to bear witness this butterfly is willing to “writhe on a needle” for him like Cio-Cio-San (Hwang 31).