Orientalism Essays - Orientalism, Postcolonial Literature

Orientalism Said describes Orientalism as, "...the generic term that I have been employing to describe the Western approach to the Orient; Orientalism is the discipline by which the Orient was (and is) approached systematically, as a topic of learning, discovery and practice". By this, Said is saying because we treated the East like a school subject, we have learned to treat the East as an inferior. Which has developed into something called Orientalism. The poets, authors and statesmen of the nineteenth-century have made Orientalism every thing that it is. They started out with the intent of learning about a civilization of people that was extremely different from ours. Their intentions were academic and nothing more really. Unfortunately, their almost unconscious prejudices and fears of the unknown, led to the slow cultural and then political domination of the place referred to as the Orient. I agree with Said on the matter of knowledge leading to slow domination, but I think he needs to be much clearer on the fact that it was arrived at with good intentions. Our predecessors wanted to understand, unfortunately there were much too eager, and presumptuous. In 1798, Napoleon invaded down through Syria. Although this was one of the first attempts to invade the Orient, two people were ahead of him. Both were scholars from Europe, Antiquetil-Duperron and Abraham-Hyacinthe. These men gave the first images of language, text and civilization to Europe. The started the fascination with the Orient, and Napoleon's urge to dominate it. Out of his failed plan to take over Egypt, came more people who wrote about the Orient without experiencing it. Said called these authors "textual children". Said also goes on to describe the "textual attitude"; this mindset believes everything you read. In this case reading about places, and the generalizations made, and believing these simplifications of a rather complex area, to be the concrete truth. This is an attitude, which I personally believe exists. It is apparent in the Western world because an education is such a commonly valued, and widely available institution. A common phenonmenon has developed in the West, using our education as a barometer to measure our merit based on how much knowledge we can cram, and regurgitate. Although that phenomenon doesn't have a name, it's by-product would be the textual attitude. Said reasons that the textual attitude comes from feeling threatened by the unknown, and formerly unattainable. With this I would have to agree. So many times in history, whenever the Europeans or even Americans, are threatened with change, or unfamiliraity we seek to dominate it. For example our first colonist landed in the United States because our freedome was being threatened by the Eurpeans, who were trying to control our beliefs. We, then take over the native's land, the native himself, and proceed to oppress the Africans because they are different than us. Hitler oppressed the Jews, and other cultures because they were different than him, and the United States denies Communist countries because they choose to follow a different style of governing. By the look of history, we are afraid of what is different, Said argues that we battle our fear, with the ability to describe anything in text. "The idea in either case is that people, places, and experiences can always be described by a book, so much so that the book acquires a greater authority, and use, even than the actuality it describes." To be evenhanded, we must also recognize the textual attitude as a generalization, and because of that it retains much less value. To be giving one culture stereotypes because of the stereotype it has given another culture, is the same as two wrongs don't make a right. Of course Said has another theory on the textual attitude. He argues that the thinking that books are always extremely accurate also comes from trial and error. He stated that if a book on lions and how they are fierce is read, and then the reader encounters a fierce lion, not only is the author believed, but encouraged to write more, and in turn will be read more widely. Edward W. Said's theory is a profound one: "books on fierce lions will do until lions can talk". As the world expanded, so did the practices of colonialism, and imperialism. Kipling's poem about White Men "cleaning up" a land, it also states that without freedom, war will be the consequence. Said picked a wonderful poem to illustrate the Western man's feeling of superiority. He feels that he is responsible for all men. Kipling also implies that