What is Orientalism? how does the West present the Eastern Culture and how does they use this narrative to authenticate their control and exploitation?
Orientalism is a concept the way the western world perceive and represents the culture, society, and people of the Middle East, South Asia, and East ,south asia and east asia.Orientalists portray Orients as uncivilized, homogenous, and exotic. Additionally, they consider that orients are dependent on western influence for modernization.
Orientalism is a discourse created by western powers depicting Orients in a biased and prejudiced manner and imposed their perspective on rest of the world.
Historically, Western portrayals have tended to depict these regions as exotic, mysterious, and fundamentally indifferent—often in ways that are conventional and stereotypical. These portrayals frequently generates the concepts of othering ,how occidents separate themselves from orients considering them backward,inferior and savages.
The term Orientalism is taken from the work of Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said, whose book “Orientalism” critically demonstrates how West portrayed orients in their literature,art and academia to create a narrative that West is superior and civilized.
According to Said, Orientalism is not just a reflection of cultural misunderstanding but a deliberate discourse that serves the interests of Western powers. By presenting the “Orient” in a prejudiced and inferior manner, Western nations have historically used this narrative to authenticate their control and exploitation of these regions. This concept is deeply tied to the history of European imperialism, which often aligned the West as superior to the East.
To challenge the narrative built by the West .We must have to overcome the identity crises,prioritize our own culture and to produce literature,art and works that portray Eastern societies as they truly are.
