Surviving the Western World
-
In the works of Edward Said, Bald, and the Swet Shop Boys, there is a recurring theme of embracing stereotypes, whether through place, identity, performance, or art, that caters to the Western perception of the Orient and Asia to navigate and survive in it.
In Said’s Orientalism, he discusses how Orientalists like Lord Cromer and other scholars benefited from their deepening knowledge of the Orient, which often grew stronger as they experienced life in regions such as Egypt or India. However, Said argues that this knowledge was always filtered through a biased and distorted lens. These scholars arrived with preconceived notions about the Orient and an agenda to confirm their assumptions of the region as different, exotic, and deeply focused on art and culture. Said highlights not only the scholars' biased views but also the complicity of Middle Easterners, who did little to challenge these perceptions. Rather than altering the Western point of view, they engaged in a form of compromise, selectively embracing certain stereotypes related to their clothing, art, language, and way of life in an attempt to reshape but not wholly reject the Western gaze. Lord Cromer, for instance, left Egypt believing that "knowledge and power" would ease managing the country, reaffirming his established stereotypes about the Orient and reinforcing the idea that Western influence could be helpful.
In the case of Bald’s work, it is evident how people used stereotypes of Indians to their advantage. These Bengali peddlers embraced their perceived exoticism through their clothing, language, and performance, embodying how the West viewed them to gain access to benefits usually unavailable to people of colour. The stereotype was so deeply ingrained in Western views of people of colour that even African Americans found success by adopting turbans, changing their accents, and creating new identities. This was not merely an adaptation but an embrace of the Indian stereotype, used as a survival strategy in a Western world that saw these exaggerated identities as acceptable and profitable.
Finally, in the song by the Swet Shop Boys, the artist deliberately uses and plays into Western stereotypes to present their art in a way that resonates with Western audiences. By incorporating stereotypical Bollywood movie scenes, South Asian vocals and accents, and a mix of languages in the subtitles, the artist caters to the preconceived notions that many Western viewers already hold about South Asian culture. While these elements may be transparent and even cliché to someone from within the community, for many Western listeners, these are the only familiar reference points they have to connect with. In my view, the artist uses these stereotypes as a tool to reach a broader audience, promoting their music by drawing on recognizable imagery and ideas, ultimately as a means of survival and success in a Western-dominated world.