Transcript Wednesday: Orientalism

Print
• http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc50.2008/reelBadArab
s/index.html
• Story info sheet
• http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/24/faithbased-communityinitiativesstatedepartment.html
• http://www.adc.org/education/arab-stereotypes-andamerican-educators/
Author Intent
• Every author, translator, or writer has an
agenda
• Language, detail, setting, characterization,
and translation is precise and purposeful
• Intent is transmitted through mood and
tone
o Mood = the way the reader feels when reading a story
o Tone = the author’s feelings about the characters/story
they have created
Interpretation of Arab
Culture
• View clips of Aladdin and reflect on what you see and hear
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkiITQnrAYM
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcTC7RkmHac
How are the following portrayed?
Women – tradition – character stereotypes –
conflict
• An analysis of Disney and Orientalism:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLdzx9-H8Wg
• Documentary:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdRc8c8jhU8
Wednesday:
Orientalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwCOSkXR_Cw&featur
e=related
Watch youtube video and write down what you
believe “orientalism” is.
Orientalism definition:
A system (of texts, movies, images, etc)
which together reinforce a way of
understanding the Middle East through a
very Eurocentric lens, though which the
“other” is exoticized in inaccurate and
ahistorical ways
Why do we have a preconceived notion of
these people?
Stereotyping, Prejudice,
and Discrimination
• Prejudice: A thought that may be adopted about specific
types of individuals or certain ways of doing things, but
the belief may or may not accurately reflect reality.
• Prejudice: Making a decision before becoming aware of
relevant facts; unfounded beliefs; unreasonable attitude
that is unusually resistant to rational influence; feeling
unfavorable toward a person or thing prior to actual
experience
• Discrimination: Distinguishing treatment of an
individual based on their actual or perceived
membership in a certain group or category; restriction
and exclusion
Prejudicial Side Effects
o Justification of ill-founded prejudices or
ignorance
o Unwillingness to rethink one’s attitudes and
behavior toward stereotyped groups
o Preventing some people of stereotyped
groups from entering or succeeding in
activities or fields
Beginnings of Orientalism
• Roots in British and French colonial efforts of the 18th
and 19th centuries
• Influenced by art and literature
• Travel writers and artists fabricated imagery that were
transmitted and inherited by Westerners
• After World War II:
o Palestinian/Israeli Conflict: Israel support
o Arab Oil Embargo: angry Americans when gas prices exploded
o Iranian revolution: Increase Arab-American tensions when
hostages were taken for more than a year
Features of Orientalism
• People from East (Asia, Middle East, and sometimes
Russia)
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Weak
Feminine
Culturally backward
Shifty and untrustworthy
Exotic
Seductive
Unchanging
Biologically inferior to Westerners
Eager to be dominated
Silenced (by extremists, oppressive governments, and the veiling of
women)
Group Readings
• Each group will be assigned part of an article to
read
• Summarize your article in a paragraph and be
prepared to share the summary with your
classmates
• Why did Edward Said find it necessary to develop the
concept of Orientalism?
• When you think of The Arabian Nights, what images of
the Middle East come to mind?
• Where do these images come from?
• What are the images from the stories you have read so
far that conform to the stereotypes of Orientalism?
Which images contradict these stereotypes?
• Is there such a thing as a “good stereotype?”
• Based on the translation discussion from Unit 1, how do
various translations of the Nights support or undermine
stereotypes?
• Consider Orientalism in reverse. If a non-Westerner
came up with a perspective on the West based on fairy
tales, what might it look like?
• Is it possible not to be affected by stereotypes? How can
we resist them?
• http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/francophone/1001_ni
ghts/1001_eng/multimedia.htm
o Barbie controversey
o http://books.google.com/books?id=e1mu8uHnI4C&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=story+of+the+merchant+and+demon+1001+nights
&source=bl&ots=G5oCBGgf0r&sig=ZDlVtv_Mjsb2K4HE7hV6BWP730&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NDtCUpurJqvc4AO094DQBQ&ved=0CD
MQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=story%20of%20the%20merchant%20and%20demon
%201001%20nights&f=false
o Merhant and demon story