Rejection Of Orientalism example essay topic

Hence, Orientalism as a pattern of knowledge preceded colonialism. Nevertheless, it found willing partners among the diplomats and political leaders of the British, French and American empires. Said points out that the vision of Orient existed as far back as the ancient Greeks. However, prior to the colonial era, it is a literary discourse bound in a tradition of writers, texts and conceptualizations. He writes, Every writer on the Orient (and this is true even of Homer) assumes some Oriental precedent, some previous knowledge of the Orient, to which he refers and on which he relies (p. 20). Said points towards Aeschylus The Persians as an example of early attempts to create an Orient.

However, it is fairly recently that Orientalism has become a science or an extended body of knowledge and tradition. Said points towards two 18th century intellectuals who spearheaded the transition of Orientalism from literary to scientific knowledge. One is Abraham-Hyacinthe Anquetil-Du perron (1731-1805) who translated the Avesta and interjected a vision of innumerable civilizations from ages past, of an infinity of literatures into the intellectual tradition of Europe (p. 77). The second scholar is William Jones, who Said cites as the accepted founder of Orientalism. As Said states, To rule and to learn, then to compare Orient with Occident: these were Jones goals (p. 78). He did that by codifying, tabulating and comparing all he encountered in the Orient.

These two scholars took Orientalism out of its literary root and supplanted it with a seemingly scientific and objective one. Said calls into question the underlying assumptions that form the foundation of Orientalist thinking. A rejection of Orientalism entails a rejection of biological generalizations, cultural constructions, and racial and religious prejudices. It is a rejection of greed as a primary motivating factor in intellectual pursuit. It is an erasure of the line between the West and the Other. Said argues for the use of narrative rather than vision in interpreting the geographical landscape known as the Orient, meaning that a historian and a scholar would turn not to a panoramic view of half of the globe, but rather to a focused and complex type of history that allows space for the dynamic variety of human experience.

Rejection of Orientalist thinking does not entail a denial of the differences between the West and the Orient, but rather an evaluation of such differences in a more critical and objective fashion. The Orient cannot be studied in a non-Orientalist manner; rather, the scholar is obliged to study more focused and smaller culturally consistent regions. Edwards Said book Orientalism that was published in 1978 had a great influence in a different range of disciplines. The principle of the book can be easily applied for examining the Other in The Lion King by Walt Disney. This animated film opens with the themes song The Circle Of Life playing as the camera show Mufasa, king of the lions holding his newborn son Simba. The It is the tale of birth, childhood and eventual manhood of Simba, a young lion cub.

The cub is held over a dramatic ledge of rock and all his future heirs. The whole community of animals is here at Pride Rock to witness young Simba because he is the future king. Everyone in the kingdom is happy about the birth of the new prince except for one lion. That lion is Scar. Scar is Mufasa brother and was next in line to be king before Simba took his place. Scar is angry and jealous of young Simba.

Young Simba is a very happy lion. He plays all the time with his best friend, a lioness named Nala. Simba is watched by the bird Zazu, and when Zazu tells Simba that one day he will be king, Simba is more then happy bursting into the song I Just Cant Wait To Be King. Scar meanwhile has other plans for Simba. One day Scar sends Simba to play in the elephant graveyard and Scar sends his minions, they hyenas there.

The hyenas try to kill Simba but Mufasa shows up and saves Simba. When Scar learns of this, he becomes angered even more and sings Be Prepared in reference to his plan to kill Simba.