Exoticization and Orientalism
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Saids analysis of Orientalism presents a binary between the Orient and the Occident. This binary presents that the Occdient (Europe) finds its identity in the Orient through the complete contrast between the two. Further, the Orient is explained as a European invention to provide a European identity. In this way, the Orient is framed as “a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes” (said 1). This misrepresentation places particular emphasis on the exoticization and fetishization of the Orient without crediting its depth and complexities. In this way, the Orient is further depicted as a fantasy land framed by the Occident. This contrast also plays into European superiority, fuelled by framing the orient as distinctly opposite.
The idea of exoticization is instilled in the lives of Bengali peddlers in Balds Bengali Harlem. Bald highlights that once the Bengali peddlers feed into American ideas of the Orient, they can succeed in their jobs. Bald elaborates on the idea of a “well-calculated Indianness” or “Hindoo” identity that becomes a performative role rooted in the Orient exoticization of the ‘East’. These notions further suppress the idea of occident identity by encouraging black and brown people to feed into oriental ideas, contributing to the contrast between the Orient and occident.
While watching the Swet Shop Boys' “Batalvii”, I noticed the same notions of exoticization and fetishization that exist around discourse on the Orient. The first half of the music video features clips of Bollywood movies that align with the Orient as a fantasy land rooted in romance and exotism, a nation that Said explains in his work. Most of the clips alluded to India as a magical and sensual land reinforcing ideas about the Orients as a mystical and exotic land.