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Monday, March 7, 2016
Orientalist reflection
Why do students of history, culture, and contemporary society need to consider orientalism and occidental in?
We need to consider it I order to fully realize and understand both sides of the conflict. If we solely focus on study from an orientalist point of view, which we are accustomed to we always hold a biased view of the opposing side. This is particularly dangerous when it comes to interactions between the two parties. If we hold unjustly biased view of the opposing side we are more to make unjust and biased decision regarding them which is bad for everyone. By studying both sides of the argument we can better understand our opposition which can help us come to a more civil end to conflicts and misunderstanding between both sides.
Students of history, culture, and contemporary society need to consider Orientalism and Occidentalism to reexamine how oppressed groups were viewed in society. Orientalism and Occidentalism both work to explain why negative viewpoints arise towards other cultures. The basic principles of Orientalism and Occidentalism can be applied to reexamine not only the relationship between the West and the East, but many other relationships as well. For example, the one podcast applies Occidentalism to the Nazi movement in Germany. Moreover, using both Orientalism and Occiedentalism together we can view both sides of a conflict. This is due to Orientalism examining West's undermining views towards the East and Occidentalism which views the East's hateful views on the West.
It is important to consider Orientalism and Occidentalism because it justifies both perspectives of the people of the East and of the West who to each other, the others culture is alien and foreign. It also shows the many differences in the cultures of the people of the East and West. Overall Orientalism attempts to explain the motives of the Westerners while Occidentalsim attempts to explain the motives and feelings of the Easterners.
Knowing occidentalism and orientalism is important for students and society because it allows them to see the different perspectives and arguments about different places. Knowing what society thinks about foreign places allows you to figure out what you think of that place and what you believe in. It also allows those students to see if those stereotypes impacted those countries and shaped it in anyway to what is it now. Finally, it is important for orientalism and occidentalism to be understood because it gives students a reason to look into that stereotype to see why people thought that. Some people will just disguise their biased opinion with words that make it seem legit, and that confuses whomever is reading that stereotype. This would lead to more research and allow those readers to create their own opinion on those foreign countries.
Students of history, culture, and contemporary society must consider orientalism and occidentalism because they represent the differing views each hemisphere has concerning the other. The negative Western view on Eastern countries is termed "orientalism". Western countries believed that they were superior to the East, because they had a distaste for the culture of Eastern civilizations. They portrayed the Eastern countries as timeless, irrational, violent, and devoid of morals, and this created a harmful stereotype. According to Said, Western societies then used these negative stereotypes to justify and perpetuate politically dominating the Middle East. On the other hand, occidentalism is the inverse of orientalism. Occidentalism is the East's negative view of the West. They believed that the West was impure, and was damaging and contradicting their culture. This resulted in the East believing that thy had justification for attacking the West, and so wars and terror attacks, like 9/11, occurred and were led by leaders such as Osama bin Laden who fully believed in this occidentalism view. Essentially, students of history, culture, and contemporary society need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because these differing perspectives play a key role in charting the course of history, as they influence the actions of the East and the West.
They need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because it could help them get a better understanding of what happened and why happened. Orientalism is when the the west tries to conquer the east, and occidentalism is when the east tries to take over the west. By knowing what these two terms are can help explain why the west was trying to take over the east and vice versa. Both the west and the east had many sterotypes of each other and both thought that they were more superior than one another. Also, both the west and the east are both stubborn in their ways, which means if others do not act or believe the same things they did they would be judged for not having the same values.
Orientalism and occidentalism are important when studying history, culture and contemporary society. Orientalism refers to the western views of the east, and occidentalism refers to the eastern views of the west. Both views are negative and are based on opinion and prior experiences instead of fact. When studying history, this is important because the westerners believed that they were better than the easterns because of their skin color. When studying culture this is important because both sides would see the other's culture as foreign and strange. When studying contemporary society this is important because the media shows negative ideas of the east that westerners believe is the only thing they should think of the east. All in all, scholars must be careful to make sure that the information that they study is based on fact with solid evidence, instead of a false idea brought on by orientalism or occidentalism.
Orientalism and occidentalism are important aspects of history because they involve stereotypes of the Middle East. Edward Said argues that the West implemented orientalism by creating these false generalities about the Middle East so that it could control and dominate another part of the world. Conversely, occidentalism is the opposite of orientalism, and consists of the common stereotypes created by non-Westerners about the West. In essence, these two concepts must be understood in order to examine the disparities between the East and the West.
It is important for students of history, culture, and contemporary society to consider Orientalism because of the bias which is seen in history and culture. For example, in a historical writing based off of Western culture, they will see the Eastenerns as uncivilized, or "living the wrong way." One needs to consider Orientalism and occidentalism because of the biases and stereotypes that will be presented. Therefore, when studying these cultures one should think without bias and read historical writing from all perspectives to gain a deeper knowledge of that region. Without differing viewpoints of society, people will make unreliable decisions without fully understanding the cultural background of that region.
Students should consider orientalism and occidentalsim becuase of the fact that history from a westerners eyes could be different from what the actual culture was like. For example, Nazi Germany can be viewed as many different ways becuase of orientalism and occidentalsim from Nazi's themselves or outsiders who did not take a part in the history. Many other people or groups in the east are viewed from a stereotypical point of view, that could completely be false because they view other people based off of their own values and beliefs. The western countries also believed that they were superior to all other people in the world becuase what they did and how they did it was the "right" way and everyone else did it a wrong and different way. When considering orientalism and occidentalsim while studying history, it allows people to have a better understanding of why people thought what they did and where these stereotypes come from. The video is a good example of how these views came about. The professor going to a party that did not support his values and he felt superior to them because of that fact, when really it was just a different way of life. It is important to view both sides of the story, not just the west or the east.
Students of these studies need to consider both Orientalism and Occidentalism because both have to do with stereotypes or misperceptions of Western or Eastern societies according to the other. For example many westerners believe that their culture is either superior to the east, or that the east just is very far behind the west since the west is a much more materialistic culture. Easterns believe that the west' culture is inferior to theirs because of how materialistic it is. In both situations, one is placing one culture above the other. The students that study history, culture, and contemporary science will need to understand the bias of each side and be able to create an unbiased opinion from it.
It is important to consider orientalism and occidentalism throughout the course because one cannot truly understand something of a different culture if their own bias opinion is blocking it. To really understand one needs to put themselves in the other countries shoes. For example, many people believe that people from the Middle East are mostly terrorist because of attacks such as 9/11, but to really know they should conduct a proper research, and open up their mind to see that not everyone from the Middle East are bad people. Overall, when considering someone from a different culture and place, they should consider that from where they are from they learn almost an entirely different concept of life, and believe in different values. Everyone is different and one should not believe they know everything before even trying to understand what they are talking about. Everything in the world is two sided, and people need to understand that.
Orientalism is the West's stereotypical perception of the east. Occidentalism is the east's common perception of the west. With understanding these two concepts while mapping world history/culture, it is easy to view the reason why many cultures perceive echo other in different ways. For instance, the labeling of all Muslims as terrorists or uncivilized people's is an example of orientalism. Subsequently, the labeling of all Americans as infidels or godless people is a prime example of occidentalism. Besides being able to understand perspectives. Thus, people can come to understand why conflicts arise out of these scenarios. While studying world history/cultures, it is also important to keep an open mind and furthermore be able to explain understand why particular groups insist hatred on others. One of the most prominent reasons why these two concepts should be considered is simply because when looking at a particular history, it is also important to compare that with current events and the modern world. It is important to question more and understand how events take place and their ultimate effects on today's society. Another example can be with China and the United States. These two nations view each other on countless different stereotypes, and being able to identify why and how these stereotypes were forged and its ultimate/proximate causes on the world today is important when examining history. In essence, these two ideas are polar opposites of each other, yet carry the same meaning, and are vital to consider when looking at world history and or world cultures.
It is important to consider orientalism and occidentalism when looking at these things because they reveal that not every culture is the same and cannot be compared to a much different culture without opinions of how that culture is different. The orientalism perceives eastern stereotypes created by western culture such as being under developed and struggling while occidentalism shows the east creating stereotypes about the west such as being materialistic and capitalistic.
Students of society need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because the different opinions stated by the easterners and westerners are very contradictory, and the two different ideas might not add up, so we need to look at both sides of the story and fully understand the situation. Since the two groups have such different opinions, it is up to the people in society to study the information and interpret it based on other information given to us. If we were to believe the first piece of information we heard, without discussing the effects of orientalism or occidentalism, we might get the wrong idea because of there stereotypical opinions while writing. For example, Said argued for the necessity of a full-scale political encounter between Jews and Palestinians, showing that it is important to see both sides of a situation and understand the full problem before using information from a single source. Moderation helps when considering orientialism and occidentalism because it shows no favored opinion between two sides and helps more efficiently decipher information.
In order to understand the world and all of its cultures one must take into account the orientalism and occidentalism, that currently exists throughout the world. These two terms refer to the stereotypical views that the east has for the west (occidentalism) and the views the west has for the east (orientalism), both of which being generally stereotypical and pointing out the worst flaws in each. In order to understand the world around and the cultures of the people that inhabit it, it is important to try and remove as much bias and personalized opinions as possible in order to achieve a clear and realistic view of the world. For instance, America is a generally monotheistic country, which would cause it to view countries such as Egypt, which at one time was mostly polytheistic, as being below them or lesser, thus needing the help of the western world to push them along. A similar idea could be taken from the eastern worlds perspective, which views the west as a large group of materialistic capitalists, that are floundering their time on irrelevant pass times. The same could be said for the past, which was a time when many cultures were extremely separated, and this shown by the Europeans carving up Africa by their own choosing, because they thought they were lesser, even though they were not, and in some cases might have been superior. Also, in the contemporary world where stereotypes paint the perspectives and views of the world, from every school and home in the world. Many people today still believe that Africa is extremely underdeveloped due to the media. Therefore, when considering history, culture, and especially contemporary societies it is paramount that one remove all bias and occidentalism or orientalism from their point of view lest it skew their perspective of the world and its peoples.
Orientalism and occidentalism are both necessary to consider because they are examples of the importance of perspective in history, culture, and society. Orientalism refers to the West judging the East, based upon their culture and values while occidentalism is the opposite. Analyzing both sides of the issue is helpful to eliminate bias and consider the position of people from different cultural backgrounds from us.
Students need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because it can give multiple views or a dual perspective on an area or subject. If a student would not consider the dual view, then they might be receiving incorrect information or partial information that makes an area or culture seem different from what it actually is. In Orientalism, Edward Said mainly focuses the views that westerners had on the Middle East and how it created a damaging stereotype of the region. Not knowing all perspectives can also cause conflict when interacting with other groups that have a different view on something. Knowing both sides would allow a much easier and more civilized interaction between groups when discussing a particular subject.
It is important for everyone to understand the concepts of orientalism and occidentalism because such comprehension is essential to the prevention of cultural bias and stereotypes. Western culture differs widely from that of Eastern countries, and as a result, each culture has beed misunderstood by the other. These misconceptions of foreign cultures are the grounds for negative stereotypes, as we try to make sense of an unfamiliar culture and attempt to compare it to our own. For example, the idea of orientalism describes the misconceptions that Americans tend to have about the Middle East and the stereotypes that describe the people of this region as "timeless, irrational, violent, and devoid of morals. These stereotypes are a much stronger reflection of the foreigners who create them, rather than the individuals that they portray. In the case of orientalism, Westerners are proven to be generally unaware and closed off to the nuances of other cultures, so these general and incorrect ideas have been formed to disguise the lack of true understanding.
It is important to consider orientalism and occidentalism because if anybody who see people doing things a different way then they have always done, they will perceive it as the wrong way of doing it. When people in the west do something unique to their culture, the people of the east will not understand because they have something different that they do. It is also the same the other way around. When studying the history or culture of another place, students must take into account that although they may find it strange or incorrect when people from another part of the world are doing something, they most likely see it as normal. People who are studying the history or culture of another country, they need to use both orientalism and occidentalism in order to fully understand the event or conflict from both sides. If there is conflict, it will help us to see and understands the motives from both sides.
Students must consider orientalism and occidentalism as they play a crucial role in our understanding of foreign areas and cultures. Edward Said was all about challenging critical issues and standing alone. With these traits, he posed the idea of orientalism which essentially goes against the typical stereotypes of Middle Eastern people, countries, and cultures. Orientalism is a vital consideration for students as it delves into the alternative views of the East. Coming the West, there are set perspectives and ideas that people possess that essentially block them from seeing anything different that could potentially disprove their set views. Said has done exactly this with orientalism as he has offered up the fact that many people are blind from the truth about many aspects of the East and that they are more pure than believed. Occidentalism on the other hand, contradicts this idea. Ian Buruma explains that occidentalists, “reduce the west to something impure and threatening”. This is an idea of materialist societies without values and is also important in students learning. Occidentalism is paramount for similar reasons to that of orientalism in the aspects that it opens the minds of people and allows them to realize that there are several opinions and facts on topics and not all of them are necessarily true. All in all, orientalism and occidentalism are vital to consider as they take one step further into uncovering and exposing the truth about the East and West.
Students of history, culture, and contemporary society need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because it pushes away stereotypes and other misconceptions. Said pushed towards the idea that all of the stereotypes were used as a device to manipulate other parts of the world. These contributions add to a liberal view on historiography. The audio clips explore Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and contemporary Al-Qaida. They corrupt the West's image and essentially it is a battle within ethics.
We need to consider it I order to fully realize and understand both sides of the conflict. If we solely focus on study from an orientalist point of view, which we are accustomed to we always hold a biased view of the opposing side. This is particularly dangerous when it comes to interactions between the two parties. If we hold unjustly biased view of the opposing side we are more to make unjust and biased decision regarding them which is bad for everyone. By studying both sides of the argument we can better understand our opposition which can help us come to a more civil end to conflicts and misunderstanding between both sides.
ReplyDeleteStudents of history, culture, and contemporary society need to consider Orientalism and Occidentalism to reexamine how oppressed groups were viewed in society. Orientalism and Occidentalism both work to explain why negative viewpoints arise towards other cultures. The basic principles of Orientalism and Occidentalism can be applied to reexamine not only the relationship between the West and the East, but many other relationships as well. For example, the one podcast applies Occidentalism to the Nazi movement in Germany. Moreover, using both Orientalism and Occiedentalism together we can view both sides of a conflict. This is due to Orientalism examining West's undermining views towards the East and Occidentalism which views the East's hateful views on the West.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to consider Orientalism and Occidentalism because it justifies both perspectives of the people of the East and of the West who to each other, the others culture is alien and foreign. It also shows the many differences in the cultures of the people of the East and West. Overall Orientalism attempts to explain the motives of the Westerners while Occidentalsim attempts to explain the motives and feelings of the Easterners.
ReplyDeleteKnowing occidentalism and orientalism is important for students and society because it allows them to see the different perspectives and arguments about different places. Knowing what society thinks about foreign places allows you to figure out what you think of that place and what you believe in. It also allows those students to see if those stereotypes impacted those countries and shaped it in anyway to what is it now. Finally, it is important for orientalism and occidentalism to be understood because it gives students a reason to look into that stereotype to see why people thought that. Some people will just disguise their biased opinion with words that make it seem legit, and that confuses whomever is reading that stereotype. This would lead to more research and allow those readers to create their own opinion on those foreign countries.
ReplyDeleteStudents of history, culture, and contemporary society must consider orientalism and occidentalism because they represent the differing views each hemisphere has concerning the other. The negative Western view on Eastern countries is termed "orientalism". Western countries believed that they were superior to the East, because they had a distaste for the culture of Eastern civilizations. They portrayed the Eastern countries as timeless, irrational, violent, and devoid of morals, and this created a harmful stereotype. According to Said, Western societies then used these negative stereotypes to justify and perpetuate politically dominating the Middle East. On the other hand, occidentalism is the inverse of orientalism. Occidentalism is the East's negative view of the West. They believed that the West was impure, and was damaging and contradicting their culture. This resulted in the East believing that thy had justification for attacking the West, and so wars and terror attacks, like 9/11, occurred and were led by leaders such as Osama bin Laden who fully believed in this occidentalism view. Essentially, students of history, culture, and contemporary society need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because these differing perspectives play a key role in charting the course of history, as they influence the actions of the East and the West.
ReplyDeleteThey need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because it could help them get a better understanding of what happened and why happened. Orientalism is when the the west tries to conquer the east, and occidentalism is when the east tries to take over the west. By knowing what these two terms are can help explain why the west was trying to take over the east and vice versa. Both the west and the east had many sterotypes of each other and both thought that they were more superior than one another. Also, both the west and the east are both stubborn in their ways, which means if others do not act or believe the same things they did they would be judged for not having the same values.
ReplyDeleteOrientalism and occidentalism are important when studying history, culture and contemporary society. Orientalism refers to the western views of the east, and occidentalism refers to the eastern views of the west. Both views are negative and are based on opinion and prior experiences instead of fact. When studying history, this is important because the westerners believed that they were better than the easterns because of their skin color. When studying culture this is important because both sides would see the other's culture as foreign and strange. When studying contemporary society this is important because the media shows negative ideas of the east that westerners believe is the only thing they should think of the east. All in all, scholars must be careful to make sure that the information that they study is based on fact with solid evidence, instead of a false idea brought on by orientalism or occidentalism.
ReplyDeleteOrientalism and occidentalism are important aspects of history because they involve stereotypes of the Middle East. Edward Said argues that the West implemented orientalism by creating these false generalities about the Middle East so that it could control and dominate another part of the world. Conversely, occidentalism is the opposite of orientalism, and consists of the common stereotypes created by non-Westerners about the West. In essence, these two concepts must be understood in order to examine the disparities between the East and the West.
ReplyDeleteIt is important for students of history, culture, and contemporary society to consider Orientalism because of the bias which is seen in history and culture. For example, in a historical writing based off of Western culture, they will see the Eastenerns as uncivilized, or "living the wrong way." One needs to consider Orientalism and occidentalism because of the biases and stereotypes that will be presented. Therefore, when studying these cultures one should think without bias and read historical writing from all perspectives to gain a deeper knowledge of that region. Without differing viewpoints of society, people will make unreliable decisions without fully understanding the cultural background of that region.
ReplyDeleteStudents should consider orientalism and occidentalsim becuase of the fact that history from a westerners eyes could be different from what the actual culture was like. For example, Nazi Germany can be viewed as many different ways becuase of orientalism and occidentalsim from Nazi's themselves or outsiders who did not take a part in the history. Many other people or groups in the east are viewed from a stereotypical point of view, that could completely be false because they view other people based off of their own values and beliefs. The western countries also believed that they were superior to all other people in the world becuase what they did and how they did it was the "right" way and everyone else did it a wrong and different way. When considering orientalism and occidentalsim while studying history, it allows people to have a better understanding of why people thought what they did and where these stereotypes come from. The video is a good example of how these views came about. The professor going to a party that did not support his values and he felt superior to them because of that fact, when really it was just a different way of life. It is important to view both sides of the story, not just the west or the east.
ReplyDeleteStudents of these studies need to consider both Orientalism and Occidentalism because both have to do with stereotypes or misperceptions of Western or Eastern societies according to the other. For example many westerners believe that their culture is either superior to the east, or that the east just is very far behind the west since the west is a much more materialistic culture. Easterns believe that the west' culture is inferior to theirs because of how materialistic it is. In both situations, one is placing one culture above the other. The students that study history, culture, and contemporary science will need to understand the bias of each side and be able to create an unbiased opinion from it.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to consider orientalism and occidentalism throughout the course because one cannot truly understand something of a different culture if their own bias opinion is blocking it. To really understand one needs to put themselves in the other countries shoes. For example, many people believe that people from the Middle East are mostly terrorist because of attacks such as 9/11, but to really know they should conduct a proper research, and open up their mind to see that not everyone from the Middle East are bad people. Overall, when considering someone from a different culture and place, they should consider that from where they are from they learn almost an entirely different concept of life, and believe in different values. Everyone is different and one should not believe they know everything before even trying to understand what they are talking about. Everything in the world is two sided, and people need to understand that.
ReplyDeleteOrientalism is the West's stereotypical perception of the east. Occidentalism is the east's common perception of the west. With understanding these two concepts while mapping world history/culture, it is easy to view the reason why many cultures perceive echo other in different ways. For instance, the labeling of all Muslims as terrorists or uncivilized people's is an example of orientalism. Subsequently, the labeling of all Americans as infidels or godless people is a prime example of occidentalism. Besides being able to understand perspectives. Thus, people can come to understand why conflicts arise out of these scenarios. While studying world history/cultures, it is also important to keep an open mind and furthermore be able to explain understand why particular groups insist hatred on others. One of the most prominent reasons why these two concepts should be considered is simply because when looking at a particular history, it is also important to compare that with current events and the modern world. It is important to question more and understand how events take place and their ultimate effects on today's society. Another example can be with China and the United States. These two nations view each other on countless different stereotypes, and being able to identify why and how these stereotypes were forged and its ultimate/proximate causes on the world today is important when examining history. In essence, these two ideas are polar opposites of each other, yet carry the same meaning, and are vital to consider when looking at world history and or world cultures.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to consider orientalism and occidentalism when looking at these things because they reveal that not every culture is the same and cannot be compared to a much different culture without opinions of how that culture is different. The orientalism perceives eastern stereotypes created by western culture such as being under developed and struggling while occidentalism shows the east creating stereotypes about the west such as being materialistic and capitalistic.
ReplyDeleteStudents of society need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because the different opinions stated by the easterners and westerners are very contradictory, and the two different ideas might not add up, so we need to look at both sides of the story and fully understand the situation. Since the two groups have such different opinions, it is up to the people in society to study the information and interpret it based on other information given to us. If we were to believe the first piece of information we heard, without discussing the effects of orientalism or occidentalism, we might get the wrong idea because of there stereotypical opinions while writing. For example, Said argued for the necessity of a full-scale political encounter between Jews and Palestinians, showing that it is important to see both sides of a situation and understand the full problem before using information from a single source. Moderation helps when considering orientialism and occidentalism because it shows no favored opinion between two sides and helps more efficiently decipher information.
ReplyDeleteIn order to understand the world and all of its cultures one must take into account the orientalism and occidentalism, that currently exists throughout the world. These two terms refer to the stereotypical views that the east has for the west (occidentalism) and the views the west has for the east (orientalism), both of which being generally stereotypical and pointing out the worst flaws in each. In order to understand the world around and the cultures of the people that inhabit it, it is important to try and remove as much bias and personalized opinions as possible in order to achieve a clear and realistic view of the world. For instance, America is a generally monotheistic country, which would cause it to view countries such as Egypt, which at one time was mostly polytheistic, as being below them or lesser, thus needing the help of the western world to push them along. A similar idea could be taken from the eastern worlds perspective, which views the west as a large group of materialistic capitalists, that are floundering their time on irrelevant pass times. The same could be said for the past, which was a time when many cultures were extremely separated, and this shown by the Europeans carving up Africa by their own choosing, because they thought they were lesser, even though they were not, and in some cases might have been superior. Also, in the contemporary world where stereotypes paint the perspectives and views of the world, from every school and home in the world. Many people today still believe that Africa is extremely underdeveloped due to the media. Therefore, when considering history, culture, and especially contemporary societies it is paramount that one remove all bias and occidentalism or orientalism from their point of view lest it skew their perspective of the world and its peoples.
ReplyDeleteOrientalism and occidentalism are both necessary to consider because they are examples of the importance of perspective in history, culture, and society. Orientalism refers to the West judging the East, based upon their culture and values while occidentalism is the opposite. Analyzing both sides of the issue is helpful to eliminate bias and consider the position of people from different cultural backgrounds from us.
ReplyDeleteStudents need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because it can give multiple views or a dual perspective on an area or subject. If a student would not consider the dual view, then they might be receiving incorrect information or partial information that makes an area or culture seem different from what it actually is. In Orientalism, Edward Said mainly focuses the views that westerners had on the Middle East and how it created a damaging stereotype of the region. Not knowing all perspectives can also cause conflict when interacting with other groups that have a different view on something. Knowing both sides would allow a much easier and more civilized interaction between groups when discussing a particular subject.
ReplyDeleteIt is important for everyone to understand the concepts of orientalism and occidentalism because such comprehension is essential to the prevention of cultural bias and stereotypes. Western culture differs widely from that of Eastern countries, and as a result, each culture has beed misunderstood by the other. These misconceptions of foreign cultures are the grounds for negative stereotypes, as we try to make sense of an unfamiliar culture and attempt to compare it to our own. For example, the idea of orientalism describes the misconceptions that Americans tend to have about the Middle East and the stereotypes that describe the people of this region as "timeless, irrational, violent, and devoid of morals. These stereotypes are a much stronger reflection of the foreigners who create them, rather than the individuals that they portray. In the case of orientalism, Westerners are proven to be generally unaware and closed off to the nuances of other cultures, so these general and incorrect ideas have been formed to disguise the lack of true understanding.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to consider orientalism and occidentalism because if anybody who see people doing things a different way then they have always done, they will perceive it as the wrong way of doing it. When people in the west do something unique to their culture, the people of the east will not understand because they have something different that they do. It is also the same the other way around. When studying the history or culture of another place, students must take into account that although they may find it strange or incorrect when people from another part of the world are doing something, they most likely see it as normal. People who are studying the history or culture of another country, they need to use both orientalism and occidentalism in order to fully understand the event or conflict from both sides. If there is conflict, it will help us to see and understands the motives from both sides.
ReplyDeleteStudents must consider orientalism and occidentalism as they play a crucial role in our understanding of foreign areas and cultures. Edward Said was all about challenging critical issues and standing alone. With these traits, he posed the idea of orientalism which essentially goes against the typical stereotypes of Middle Eastern people, countries, and cultures. Orientalism is a vital consideration for students as it delves into the alternative views of the East. Coming the West, there are set perspectives and ideas that people possess that essentially block them from seeing anything different that could potentially disprove their set views. Said has done exactly this with orientalism as he has offered up the fact that many people are blind from the truth about many aspects of the East and that they are more pure than believed. Occidentalism on the other hand, contradicts this idea. Ian Buruma explains that occidentalists, “reduce the west to something impure and threatening”. This is an idea of materialist societies without values and is also important in students learning. Occidentalism is paramount for similar reasons to that of orientalism in the aspects that it opens the minds of people and allows them to realize that there are several opinions and facts on topics and not all of them are necessarily true. All in all, orientalism and occidentalism are vital to consider as they take one step further into uncovering and exposing the truth about the East and West.
ReplyDeleteStudents of history, culture, and contemporary society need to consider orientalism and occidentalism because it pushes away stereotypes and other misconceptions. Said pushed towards the idea that all of the stereotypes were used as a device to manipulate other parts of the world. These contributions add to a liberal view on historiography. The audio clips explore Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and contemporary Al-Qaida. They corrupt the West's image and essentially it is a battle within ethics.
ReplyDelete