Orientalism

It is certainly not my intention to elaborate in great detail what mainstream media is, how they work, which effects they have, et cetera. Following Chomsky (1997) in ‘What makes mainstream media mainstream’ I define mainstream media as the media that are distributed through the largest distribution channels causing them to represent what the majority of media consumers are likely to encounter. It is vital to acknowledge that these mass or mainstream media do not operate in a vacuum but interact…

In the pre-colonial era, westerners had adopted the colonial discourse to serve their imperial aims and plots. This discourse took part in literature, and covered the idea of representation. The western travelers found the Moroccan characteristics such as habitant, landscapes, religious festivals, customs … fertile to represent the country, whether positively or negatively. Those representations differ depending on the difference perceptions of the writers and their origins. This paper will shed…

women stems from orientalist values and strengthens the “sense of [Western] superiority”. It is this savior thinking that Lila Abu-Lughod critiques as other women experience many of the issues these women faced across the world. The male-dominated Orientalism, initially termed by Said, is put into question as women become more involved in its…

Returning the “Gaze” Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John is an attempt at writing back to a hegemonic colonial discourse. The protagonist of this postcolonial bildungsroman, Annie, is struggling to form an identity while adhering to colonial ideologies forced upon her. However, her ability to write and speak back is limited to the colonial culture, specifically English literature and language. She uses the culture that is oppressing her as a means of liberation. Similarly, Homi Bhabha argues that a…

Final Reflection This course has been interesting in offering new perspectives on the Bible, especially in the ways in which people’s interpretations of the Bible today are related to the ways and reasons why certain books of the Bible were written. It has also been interesting seeing how Western society and history is very much dependent upon the Bible, and entire eras of history are separated by the ways people began to think and interpret the Bible. Another aspect of this class that was…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the most influential public figures in 18th-century Vienna. Two of his most impactful works on public opinion were an opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and an instrumental, Violin Concerto No. 5. Throughout both of these compositions, Mozart employs musical exoticism in order to develop a stereotype of Turks as violent and intemperate and to simultaneously juxtapose this image against Western European ideals of rationality and composure. In The Abduction…

creates a separation between the audience and the people who do live in difficult situations. This separation, and misrepresentation is dangerous, because to a western audience, the target audience for Slumdog Millionaire, it reinforces notions of orientalism and exocitices not only Indian culture, but poverty in itself. Without a real picture of what life looks like for the poor population in India, it is impossible for the people who have never seen this poverty first hand to relate, or…

The exoticization of Spain present in Debussy’s La soire ́e dans Grenade recognizes and incorporates the native sounds and rhythms of Spain with an emphasis of importing Andalusian classical music. With La soire ́e dans Grenade, Debussy tries to paint a picture of exotic Spain for Western audiences by drawing influence from increase cultural attention of Iberian Andalusi (Islamic) heritage present in Granada. Interest in Iberian Andalusi tradition began with the publication of Antigüedades árabes…

Colonialism took many different forms throughout history; political, economic, social and cultural. Literature itself can serve colonial objectives through the use of a colonial language that describes the Non-western countries as inferior, uneducated, uncultured and uncivilized. This type of colonial discourse mainly serve the colonial powers who give false image about the other in order to emphasize their superiority and to defend the real intentions behind colonizing other countries such as…

therefore, it was no longer the “authentic cuisine” they sought but the feeling of consuming something foreign and different to American cuisine. Recalling images showed in lecture and discussion of the early menus, the imagery of the menu was that of “orientalism”. The menu marketed a “foreign experience” with the safety and familiarity of dishes like chop suey or chow mein. Similarly, McDonalds offered the public in China the opportunity to try “local culture” from America. McDonald’s…