Edward Said and His Concepts Orientalism and Imaginative Geography free essay sample

In an attempt to provide basic knowledge and clarity, this paper discusses two of Edward Said’s sociological concepts – Orientalism and imaginative geographies – defines the two concepts, and also provides examples for each. The research will be done by digging into the works of academics and average people alike, and piecing their works together to explain Edward Said’s two concepts. This paper also discusses a brief account of Edward Said’s life – from his birth until his death. Brief Account of Edward Said’s Life and Achievements Edward Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935 (Appelrouth Edles, 2008). Edward’s father, Wadie Said, was a successful Palestinian businessman and he headquartered a stationery firm in Cairo (McCarthy, 2010). In his formative years, Said lived between Jerusalem and Cairo until 1948, when the state of Israel was established and his family became refugees (Appelrouth Edles, 2008). In addition to the aforementioned, McCarthy (2010) stated that: Edward was educated at various schools in Jerusalem and Cairo, culminating his time spent at Victoria College, a prestigious school run by British teachers for the Arab elite. In his early teens, Said was expelled from Victoria College, and his parents took the drastic measure of sending him to the United States, to Mount Hermon, a prepatory school in New Hampshire. From there, the young Said moved on to Princeton, and eventually to Harvard for graduate study. In 1963, he became an assistant professor at Columbia University in New York City. He won tenure in 1966, and spent the rest of his professional life there. (p.4) Edward Said has received many honorary doctorates from universities in some eight countries, has published many books, and has written numerous articles and essays appearing in both scholarly journals and the popular media (Appelrouth Edles, 2008). As he was earning his share of enemies on because of his political stances and positions, his office at Columbia University was set on fire. In addition to that, his family was sent many death threats, and the Jewish Defense League labelled Edward Said a Nazi (Appelrouth Edles, 2008). Since 1991, Edward Said has been battling leukemia, and he died from it on September 25, 2003 (Bernstein, 2003). Orientalism Orientalism, according to Edward Said (as cited in Appelrouth Edles, 2008): †¦has three dimensions to it. First, it refers to all the scientific and academic disciplines whose purpose is to study Oriental cultures and customs. †¦A second dimension refers to Orientalism in a more general sense as a â€Å"style of thought,† the â€Å"ideological suppositions, images, and fantasies about a region of the world called the Orient. The third dimension speaks of Orientalism as a source of power for â€Å"dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient. (pp. 821-822) In addition, according to Said (as cited in Sered, 1996), â€Å"is a manner of regularized (or Orientalized) writing, vision, and study, dominated by imperatives, perspectives, and ideological biases ostensibly suited to the Orient. † In addition to Said’s definition, in more casual words: â€Å"†¦Orientalism is a form of exoticization and objectification of all things Asian (this includes â€Å"West Asian† aka: Middle-East)† (Harris, 2009, para.1). â€Å"Orientalism, in large part, is about appropriation and the adoption of an â€Å"Asian† style/dress/fashion as a type of fetish object or as decoration–as rendering â€Å"Asian† into the â€Å"Orient† into an â€Å"object† rather than a SUBJECT (a person, a human)† (Harris, 2009, para. 2). To clarify the concept of Orientalism, here are some modern-day examples from Harris (2009): Madonna’s â€Å"Indian† phase is an example of Orientalism (I think it was during her â€Å"Ray of Light† album when she performed at the Grammys in a sari or something like that–am I remembering this wrong?). Or objects that depict Asian people or that use Asian people into this object way–I’ve seen lamps that either feature Asian people (usually in classical Chinese or Japanese clothing, and by classical I mean, ancient Chinese or ancient Japanese clothing) at its base. Or Buddha, depictions of which are on t-shirts and soap and action figures. (para. 2) One of the things to note about the piece and the commentary on the blog is that the first of the non-white babies to go were the Asian babies. That’s right–if you can’t have a white baby, the one that most white families were willing to go to were Asian babies. Then the Latino babies went next. And thus, the store faced incubator upon incubator of black babies. †¦ It does strike me, the first part of it–the way in which the Asian babies were the ones to go first of the non-white babies, that this could be seen as a form of Orientalizing–that an Asian baby becomes yet another accessory, like having a feng shui crystal in your home or putting chop sticks in your hair. I think it also says a lot about the model minority myth and the racial hiearchy [sic] at work in this country, but since this post is on Orientalism, I’m going to stick with this theme for now. (para. 5) Imaginative Geography Said (as cited by Appelrouth Edles, 2008) explained the concept of imaginative geography by setting up an example: A group of people living on a few acres of land will set up boundaries between their land and its immediate surroundings on the one hand, and on the other, a land beyond theirs which they call â€Å"the land of the barbarians†. In other words, this universal practice of designating in one’s mind a familiar space which is â€Å"ours† and an unfamiliar space beyond â€Å"ours,† which is â€Å"theirs,† is a way of making geographical distinctions that can be entirely arbitrary. I use the word arbitrary here because imaginative geography of the â€Å"our land/barbarian land† variety does not require that the barbarians acknowledge the distinction. It is enough for â€Å"us† to set up these boundaries in our own minds; â€Å"they† become â€Å"they† accordingly, and both their territory and their mentality is designated as different from â€Å"ours.† (p. 829) Imaginative geography – as explained by Al-Mahfedi (2011) – is the: †¦type of territorial ambition and narrative of power, which involve re-imagining the character of land and reinventing the notions of who is rightfully entitled to it, are part of a more generalized cultural process, described by Said as imaginative geography. Said’s concept of â€Å"imaginative geography† suggests, among many other things, the way actors with  territorial ambitions reinvent meanings about the landscapes they covet and frame discourses justifying why they belong on, and are entitled to take control of, the landscapes they reinvent. (p. 21) To further expound and explain imaginative geographies, here is an excerpt from the Encyclopedia of Human Geography: Imaginative geographies, the images of the world and its diverse people that help a group to define its identity, are cultural representations that carry both emotional and ideological weight. Within human geography, the study of imaginative geographies takes such representations seriously; images, as shapers of peoples identities and understandings of the world, also shape the world itself. Thus, imaginative geographies blur distinctions between the â€Å"real† world and the â€Å"fictional† world. That is, they are real not because imaginative geographies accurately depict the world but rather because they have reflected and reinforced peoples imagination of the world in tangible and concrete ways. (Hoelscher, 2006) Here is an example taken from the article Imaginative Geographies, Dracula and the Transylvania ‘place myth’ from the journal Human Geographies Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography written by Light (2008): †¦For the past 10 years I have given students a list of countries and asked them to choose the one they would most like to visit on a holiday. The actual list varies from year to year but the one constant is New Zealand. And every year, regardless of what other countries are on the list, the most popular choice (of around two-thirds of the group) is New Zealand. Then I ask these students if they have already visited New Zealand; to date, not a single student has done so. This demonstrates the way in which young people in the United Kingdom are forming pictures in their minds about what New Zealand is ‘like’ and that these pictures are predominantly positive and favourable. (p. 7) Here is another example of imaginative geographies, taken from a term paper on human geographies at Studymode. com: In regards [sic] to the speech by George W. Bush, I believe he does a great job justifying his actions as to why we need military involvement in the Middle East. He does so by defining Al Qaeda in a way where anyone with the slightest bit of patriotism or reason can assume that these people need to be wiped off the map. What he doesn’t do is describe how these political factions rose to power partly due to the political and capitalistic actions of the United States in the latter half of the 20th century. His rhetoric makes any logical American agree that terrorist groups in the Middle East are the Global Enemies, and our number one priority as a responsible world power is to take out this radical faction. (Stiner, 2013) Synthesis Edward Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935. Said attended several schools in Jerusalem and Cairo, finished his undergraduate studies in Princeton, and went to Harvard for his graduate studies. He became an assistant professor at Columbia University in 1963, and he continued working there after winning tenure in 1966. Edward Said died from leukemia on September 25, 2003. Orientalism is a way of objectifying Asian elements and making them seem mysterious and outlandish – be it in a positive manner or a negative manner. Imaginative geography is the relative depiction that are manifestations of emotions and ideas towards a particular place, ethnicity, or culture. Orientalism is a form of imaginative geography, or a more specific imaginative geography, that focuses on the Orient/Asians. Cases In the Philippine context, situations in which Orientalism and imaginative geography are applied, exist. One common case is whenever a person looks distinctly Caucasian, Japanese, or Korean – whether or not they are actually a Filipino citizen – Filipinos tend to think that the person is somewhat superior, regardless of who the person actually is and what the person actually does. Connected to this is that a lot of Filipinos strive to appear more Caucasian, Japanese, or Korean, by buying imported clothing, making their skin look lighter in color, dying their hair, wearing contact lenses, getting their hair straightened, going under surgery to get rhinoplasty, etc. Another case is the generalization of Muslims by Filipinos. A lot of Filipinos hold some sort of discrimination against Muslims because of the domestic and international terrorist attacks which were caused by, yes, Muslims. While it may be true that the terrorists were indeed Muslims, it doesn’t mean that all Muslims are involved in the terrorism. A lot of Filipinos, despite this modern day and age, still discriminate against people of African descent; they make fun of them behind their backs just because of the color of their skin, or because of the primitive ways of the featured Africans – which were natives and residents of the very rural areas of Africa – in magazines and educational television programs. Oddly enough, those Filipinos think that the people of African descent whom are living here in the urban part of the country are somehow primitive as well, despite not showing any signs of uncivilized behavior. Another odd aspect is that Filipinos also have ancestors which were – obviously – more uncivilized than we are now, yet they do not dislike themselves for it. Insights Based on the research done in the making of this paper, it seems that Orientalism is a form of imaginative geography that is solely focused on the Orient. Also, it can be said that Orientalism and imaginative geographies have been around for a very long time – even before we were born. Until now, they still exist in our society, whether they are noticeable or not. In this day and age, even our simple preference of food, clothing, or vacation spots, might be heavily influenced by our certain expectations and assumptions about a certain group of people or place. Some of these assumptions are harmless, but some of them can affect establishments, tourist spots, ethnic groups, countries, religions, economies, and the like. But for now, on a smaller scale, it would be best if people would see things for what they really are, and not rely on mere imagination, to prevent offending anyone that might be involved. Focusing more on the Philippine cases in the previous part of the paper, Filipinos can be â€Å"self-racist†, in a sense that they prefer to embody a different race or culture instead of embodying their own. This â€Å"self-racism† can be as minor as preferring American brands over Filipino brands, to having their bodies augmented to look that of the particular ethnicity they prefer over their own.