The West has separated itself from the Middle East for centuries. This division is known as Orientalism which refers to the Western or Occidental views that the Middle East or Orient is inferior or different in some way. Edward Said was a scholar who studied the Western perception of the Middle East, specifically the word “Islam” through the lens of Orientalism. Said argues that this distinction between the West and the “other” is primarily reflected in Western media which generally promotes stereotypes of Muslims and people living in the Middle East. These stereotypes negatively represent the Middle East in the eyes of the public as a region filled with violence, anti-American sentiments, people with dark skin and unruly facial hair, and
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Despite numerous awards for his artistic talents, he is not immune to propagating these stereotypical views of the Middle East. In his January 16, 2015 comic entitled “Blogger in Saudi Arabia Sentenced to 1000 Lashes,” Danziger perpetuates the negative views of violence and backwards laws that supposedly contradict American values and freedoms. In this cartoon, three Saudi Arabian men are dressed in the ghutra or shumagh with facial hair. The man to the left is holding a book of sharia law, which is the Islamic legal code. This relates violence to Islam because one of the punishers is carrying around the Islamic legal code which viewers would perceive as the justification for such a punishment. The three men are conversing during the punishment of a blogger, the man to the left must leave the lashing to attend a beheading. The blogger is depicted in the midst of his punishment already visibly injured with lash marks. Danziger’s political cartoon continues the Orientalist view of Middle Eastern culture because it solely depicts the severe punishments and violence within Saudi Arabia culture. This correlation alludes to the perceived violence inherent in Islam due to the presence of militant and the use of cruel and unusual punishment. The political cartoons of Arend Van Dam further the existence of Orientalism in Western
Despite numerous awards for his artistic talents, he is not immune to propagating these stereotypical views of the Middle East. In his January 16, 2015 comic entitled “Blogger in Saudi Arabia Sentenced to 1000 Lashes,” Danziger perpetuates the negative views of violence and backwards laws that supposedly contradict American values and freedoms. In this cartoon, three Saudi Arabian men are dressed in the ghutra or shumagh with facial hair. The man to the left is holding a book of sharia law, which is the Islamic legal code. This relates violence to Islam because one of the punishers is carrying around the Islamic legal code which viewers would perceive as the justification for such a punishment. The three men are conversing during the punishment of a blogger, the man to the left must leave the lashing to attend a beheading. The blogger is depicted in the midst of his punishment already visibly injured with lash marks. Danziger’s political cartoon continues the Orientalist view of Middle Eastern culture because it solely depicts the severe punishments and violence within Saudi Arabia culture. This correlation alludes to the perceived violence inherent in Islam due to the presence of militant and the use of cruel and unusual punishment. The political cartoons of Arend Van Dam further the existence of Orientalism in Western