Word of the Day | كلمة اليوم

Bilingual Mode

•  الاِسْتِشْراق

• Orientalism

• معنى (من ويكيبيديا)

• Meaning (from Wikipedia)

• دراسة كافّة البنى الثّقافيّة للشّرق من وجهة نظر غربي، وتستخدم كلمة الاستشراق أيضاً لتدليل تقليد أو تصوير جانب من  الحضارات الشرقية لدى الرواة والفنانين في الغرب

• The study of all of the culture structures of the East from the view of the West and the word Orientalism is also used to illustrate the tradition or portrayal of a part of Eastern Civilization by narrators and artists in the West.
• في رؤيي, هذه فكرة مهمّة جدااااااااااا يجب أن يعرفها الجميع. شيع بالمصطلح بقلم أستاذ جامعة كولومبيا الفلسطيني إدوارد سعيد
•  In my opinion, this is a very very very important idea that everyone should know. The term was popularized by the Palestinian professor at Columbia University Edward Said. 

Basically, what everyone should take away from the idea of Orientalism is that for centuries (CENTURIES) the West constructed a fetishized image of the East as static, licentious, and barbaric and then used this false image to justify the imperial conquest of the East ("Civilize those savages"). This false image was perpetuated by writers, scholars, historians, artists, academics, etc. in the West both subconsciously and consciously. Often times, Westerners would study Eastern cultures for years while holding a patronizing view towards these cultures. This prevented a true understanding of different cultures.

Orientalism has been so influential that it helped trigger the creation of Post-colonial studies.


So next time you read about the "Orient" (the Other, non-West), keep in mind the stereotypes and biases that can hide the reality.

Orientalism still exists in the media, literature, art, etc. (both in Western countries and internationally). Therefore, this topic will be relevant for quite some time.