Orientalism

In our lectures, we were looking at Orientalism and the Other. The subject of post colonialism was brought up first which was about the impact and aftermath of European domination and colonising of non-European countries and its people along with its culture. Subjects such as art, literature and thought have been effected by the colonisation of other countries because of the idea that westerners want to spread their ideals on the natives which in turn removes its people from its roots and cements the colonists rule.

Next we were introduced to the works of Edward Said, especially his book Orientalism. Here he talks about the representation of the Orient and how it presents the notion that the west is right and east is wrong. For example; the west has its own history while the east has it imposed on them, the west is rational while the east is irrational and the west has masculine demeanour of activity and domination while the east has feminine features of submission and possession.

Afterwards we looked at how the west visualises the east through art and and other media. We looked at a painting by Rudolf Ernst called "A sultan with a tiger". As the title suggests, the painting has a sultan astride a tiger under an archway of an eastern palace. The problem is that the image is a mixture of elements from different parts of the east, the painting is supposed to represent India. This is known as a Pastiche. Another example is from an old P&O poster depicting a decorated elephant with an equally colourful procession. It helps project an exotic impression but falls short in the truth department. From these examples i think that the east lost their identity and tried to emulate what the posters were displaying and advertising.

Then we looked at the "other" which means how the east has helped the west in creating contrasts in image, personality and experience. The other refers to the differentiation between what is familiar to the west and how it perceives the east as different and unconventional. This gives colonists the excuse to pry into the "others" land and changing the east to suit the west's needs. A closing statement from Said mentions how imperialism imposes history on the country and how it destroys the culture and ethics of the land and creates an order that the imposing force finds pleasing. I think this is how stereotypes come around.

We moved from history and art to Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and how it deals with orientalism, colonisation and agency. Blade Runner is set in the early 21st century where highly advanced robots called Replicants are used as slave labourers and planet exploration. The film is about a squad of special police called "Blade Runners" in which their job is to execute Replicants who have recently been declared illegal on earth. Empathy tests are used to root out Replicants from the crowds of humans entering the country/planet, the examiner asks a theoretical question which will incur a emotional response.

The message the film conveys is about how colonialism creates it own culture from a mix of other cultures, most prominent is Oriental. This is very similar to the colonialisation of America due to the mix of different nationalities such as the Irish, German, English nationalities and many others. In the Film there is character named Gaff who is more or less a physical manifestation of the language in the city. Gaff speaks in a language that is a mix of European and Asian dialects. The culture in this future is what happens when the west changes  the meaning entirely of an eastern culture and amalgamating it into one entity. This removes the original meaning and creates a hollow and meaningless culture. A good example of this is the blue dragon. the west associates it with a Chinese restaurant.

The subject of Agency is brought up in film through the Replicants. Agency refers to how a culture or colony are able self-represent. In the film, the Replicants return to earth to seek out their creator in order to increase their life spans that are 4 years long. The leader of the androids only wants the best for his kind even if it is very violent. I think that agency is best explained in this movie.

Overall i think that Orientalism and post-colonialism theory does somewhat ring true today in the media and society. A good example for Orientalism in society is Chinatown. It is a vision of the east from the west's perspective, it is a form of entertainment at the expense of the east and it is a pastiche of China. To those who have travelled from China to the west probably would find this hodge-podge of Asian artefacts in one small space either hilariously or offensively inaccurate and misinformed.