Post-9/11 thoughts on Orientalism
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The Orient is not merely imaginative; how could it be when we see its effects on everything we do? The term “the Orient” is offensive, and it groups different cultures and social classes based solely on geographical location into something to be lesser than “the Occident” (Europe). Although the Orient began as “an idea that has a history and a tradition of thought, imagery and vocabulary … have given it reality and presence in and for the West.” The Orient both generalizes an entire group as well as isolates details and creates stereotypes and tools for oppression. It really affects people and how we conduct everyday life and interactions economically, politically, and socially. The positionality of “West vs Rest” is seen here, and the systematic discrimination of the “rest” is what Said insists is more than imaginative. He said, "Europe culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self.” Said’s critique of the West is that it is dependent on this recurring othering of Orientals and Arabs. European and American culture get their strength by twisting the Orient to benefit from the good while harming all that is not for their benefit. This makes me think about how Said would critique the post-9/11 world. In our current political environment, the Arabs, Muslims, and Sikhs were the Others and the Evil that the West had to fight against to keep the illusion of protection. The demonization of immigrants brings the American and European identities together, as we also see with Brexit and Laïcité. There would be no European culture without the Orient to build it off of and this is beyond just the images of it, it finds itself manifest in very real ways as opinions shape actions. In writing “Orientalism,” Said basically explains how the Arab trope of 9/11 came to be and how it was essential for the American culture to strengthen in a time of turmoil. It is also interesting how American culture uses this villainization while also using the fetishization of this Other, and we see this with the practices Bald describes as “an exotic otherness.” Post 9/11, we see how “the Orient is not a free subiect of thought or action” in many ways.
A tangible example of this is the rise of anti-Arab and Muslim hate that was so prevalent in American culture and that rise justifying the endless wars in the Middle East. I think the Swetshop Boys music video does an interesting job of showing this abuse of the Orient with the visuals flashing between this exotic otherness and this bloodthirsty, dangerous, and violent otherness. But really, these have just been projected onto the Orient to give the West a better claim to creating this violence. I wonder how Said, Bald, and the Swetshop Boys would navigate the post-9/11 world in intersection with each other.