INTRODUCTION The Orientalists on Sufism: A Cultural Critique

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1 INTRODUCTION The present research, The Orientalists on Sufism: A Cultural Critique deals with the Orientalist scholars and their work on Sufism. It is an attempt to define, examine, scrutinize, observe and analyze the Orientalists work in this domain. This thesis will consider a few renowned Orientalists who play a significant role in the field of Sufism. Sufism has attracted the Eastern as well as the Western scholars and the research has been directed on Sufi history, tradition, culture and literature. Therefore, the scholars have worked on the literature, culture, history philology and philosophy of the Sufis since the late Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth century and have shown interest in the Sufi as well as Bhakti traditions. Sufi and Bhakti traditions are the most important characteristics and facet of the Eastern history and culture. Sufism is one of the spacious and significant places occupied not only in Indian culture but also in the whole Eastern culture. Sufism has a generous approach that promotes the secular culture and ambiance in the Eastern as well as the Western world. The Orientalist writers, historians and cultural critics have written and produced volumes of studies and translations dealing with the classic Sufi literature, culture, philosophy and history of Sufism in the Eastern countries especially in India. The Orientalists have investigated the origin and background of Sufism, orders and their teaching, ritual practices, doctrine, costumes and tradition in their works. We can say that the Orientalists introduced and spread the knowledge of Sufism in the Western world in the course of their research and writing. 1

2 There are several significant Sufi texts which have been translated, and interpreted by the European writers such as Reynold A. Nicholson, H.R.A. Gibbs, A. R. Arberry, Nile Green, Bruce B. Lawrence, and Carl W. Ernst, who are the eminent Orientalist scholars in field of Sufi literature, history and cultural Studies. Scholars like Nile Green, Bruce B. Lawrence, and Carl W. Ernst have visited all the important Sufi sites, the historical locations, and have meticulously assessed these sites that unfold the various dimensions of the Sufi traditions in the Eastern as well as the Western world. It is necessary to initiate a discussion on the Orientalists work about Sufism and how they have (mis)represented and projected history, culture and the literature in their studies and research. From the mideighteenth to the late-twentieth century, the term was applied to the study of the languages, literature and culture of the Orient. (Heehs, 2003:169) Edward Said is a very influential personality in the field of Oriental studies in the world. The title of this research is very intimately connected with the Oriental studies. Edward Said s Orientalism deals and plays a vital role in the Oriental studies. Therefore, the researcher intends to introduce this chapter with Orientalism and its concerned aspects and issues. Thus, this chapter deals with Orientalism and its concerned discourses, aspects, problems and issues. Edward Said exposes how the West from the 18 th century had undertaken systematic and purposeful misrepresentation and denigration of the glorious Orient through their work. These concepts were given a new twist by Twentieth century writer and critic Edward Said in his 2

3 book Orientalism (1978). The publication of Said s epoch making work Orientalism contributed in an important method to realize his different and flexible intellectual carrier. He uses the term Orientalism to represent a Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of unreceptive and critical views of the East or Orient, composed by the attitudes of European imperialism in the eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. The relationship and issues between the Orient (East) and Occident (West) are the focal points to be discussed in this chapter. BRIEF OUTLINE OF EDWARD SAID AND HIS WORK: Edward W. Said (Born: November 1, 1935, Jerusalem and Death: September 24, 2003, New York) (Britannica, 2009) Palestinian American literary critic, cultural theorist, writer and educator. His full name is Edward Wadie Said, sometimes Edward William Said. In his writings, interviews and lectures, Said was extremely critical of Western representations of Arabs and of American foreign policy in the Middle East. Said restructured scholarship in the humanities with his analysis of Western studies of Oriental cultures but was more commonly known for his support of Palestinian independence. For much of his life he was a passionate advocate of the cause of Palestinians displaced by the creation of the state of Israel in Said scrutinized the literature in the light of social and cultural politics and was an outspoken supporter of the political rights of the Palestinian people and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. His outspoken views gained him both admirers and fierce critics. Said has written numerous books and articles and has given numerous interviews and lectures in his support of Arab causes and Palestinian rights. Said certainly deserves praise for his works in the field of postcolonial studies. 3

4 Said is renowned for his influential book Orientalism, first published by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd in 1978, then by Peregrine Books in 1985, and reprinted by Penguin Books in The edition used here is the Penguin Books reprint of Orientalism with a new afterword published in The book, Orientalism has a subtitle Western Conception of the Orient. Said discusses the attitude of Western intellectuals toward the East, and in particular toward the Middle East in Orientalism. Said identifies the European or Western cultural tradition of Orientalism, which is a particular and long standing way of identifying the East as Other and inferior to the West.(Barry,1995:192) Said argued that Westerners have a limited, oversimplified idea of the East and its history. This view, he said, goes hand in hand with political imperialism. He conceived the theme of Orientalism out of this lasting personal political and cultural experience. In Culture and Imperialism (1993) Said made similar observations and perceptions from the works of Western literature: perceptions of the East as the other of peoples barbaric and limited and of cultures both exotic and degenerate. This is a continuation of the arguments raised in Orientalism in that it examines in a more focused manner the power relations between Occident and Orient. Said argued that the perceptions remain significant today and have an impact on politics, mainly on policies toward the Middle East and on views of Arabs. His other works include the Question of Palestine (1979). In this book, Said attempts to place before the American reader a historical account of the Palestinian experiences and plight. Covering Islam (1981) intends to disclose how media representations produce Islam, and, in reducing its supporter to anti-american fanatics and threatening fundamentalists, continue the 4

5 centuries old function of Western definition. The Politics of Dispossession (1994), a memoir of his early years called Out of Place (1999), and a collection of essays entitled Reflections on Exile (2001). M.A.R. Habib has very rightly been pointed out that Said thinking has embraced three broad imperatives: To articulate the cultural position and task of the intellectual and literary critic. To examine the historical production and motivations of Western discourses about the Orient in general and about Islam is particular. An attempt to bring to light and clarify the Palestinian struggle to regain a homeland. (Habib, 2006:744-45) Said s thoughts influenced a rising generation of educators in former colonies and formed the main foundation for the new field of postcolonial studies. In the field of cultural studies Said is a most cheerful narrator of the history of European humanism s complicity in the history of European colonialism. On the political level, Said was a powerful voice expressing the plight of the Palestinians as a people dispossessed of their homeland. Because of his advocacy for Palestinian self-determination and his association with the Palestine National Council (PNC), he was only most recently allowed to visit Palestine. Although critical of Israel and Israeli policy in the occupied territories, he recognized Israel s right to exist. Elected in 1977 to the Palestine National Council (PNC), the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Said supported a Palestinian state and helped pave the way for secret peace negotiations between 5

6 Israel and the PLO in Oslo, Norway. However, he became deeply critical of the Oslo Accords, a declaration he felt was heavily biased in Israel s favor. Said resigned from the Palestine National Council (PNC) in Said was diagnosed with leukemia (it is cancer of the blood cells) in In addition to his political and academic pursuits, Said was an accomplished musician and pianist. In the late 1990s, as he grew delicate, he turned to music. He had an interest and passion for classical music. With his intimate friend, Israeli singer Daniel Barenboim, Said established a summer program to bring together young Arab and Israeli musicians. A collection of conversations between Said and Barenboim was published as Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society (2002). Next year of the publication of Parallels and Paradoxes, Said passed away on 24 September 2003 in New York. ORIENTALISM Edward Said s most influential book Orientalism was published in 1978 which is most widely acclaimed and arguably the most debated book in the contemporary world that trembled the mind and writing of the scholars and researchers in the field of postcolonial studies. It has inspired countless appropriations and confutation from scholars around the world and it continues to shape the ways in which literary studies, Middle East studies, East and South Asian studies, architecture, politics, history, anthropology and related disciplines are conceptualized and practiced. In the research article entitled, From Orientalism to Occidentalism, Dr. Hassan Hanafi, who is a professor in Cairo University, says that Orientalism as a field of research emerged in the 6

7 West in modern times, since the renaissance period. It reached its peak in Nineteenth century, and paralleled the development of other Western schools of thought such as rationalism, historicism and structuralism. Orientalism has been the victim of historicism from its formation, by means of careful and minute analysis, indifferent to meaning and significance. Orientalism articulates the searching subject more than it describes the object of research. It is motivated by the anguish of gathering the maximum of useful information about countries, People and culture of the Orient. Classic Orientalism belongs for the most part to similar aspects of colonial culture in the West such as Imperialism, Nazism, Fascism a package of hegemonic ideologies and European supremacy. Basim Musallam has reviewed of the Edward Said s Orientalism in his article entitled Power and Knowledge. He says on the subject of Orientalism that Orientalism is about the Western use of the Orient as idea, as sphere of empire, and as field of study and research in the last two hundred years. While it is, to begin a study of Orientalism as a Western institution, ultimately it becomes a meditation on the relations between societies in an age of unequal power, and the consequences of these relations. Edward Said concentrates on England and France, the two great colonial rivals and partners in the Middle East, and in the last part on the U.S., their successor. The Orientalism of Germany and other European countries is of little significance to him since Germany never became a Middle Eastern colonial power. Even the discussion of British and French Orientalism would have been different had the French colonial experience in the Maghreb been included. Only towards the Levant were the French "imbued with a sense of acute loss in the 7

8 Orient," in comparison with British "material possession." (Musallam, 1079:19) DICTIONARY MEANING OF ORIENTALISM: Random House Dictionary (Online Reference Dictionary) has given three meaning of Orientalism as: 1. A peculiarity or idiosyncrasy of the Oriental peoples. 2. The character or characteristics of the Oriental peoples. 3. The knowledge and study of Oriental languages, literature, etc The dictionary has also given the origin of the word, Orientalism. The word was invented during ; and composed as Oriental + -ism. (Random House Dictionary, 2009) The American Heritage Dictionary (2009) of the English Language, Fourth Edition has also defined the two meaning of Orientalism as: 1. A quality, mannerism, or custom specific to or characteristic of the Orient. 2. Scholarly knowledge of Asian cultures, languages, and peoples. The Microsoft Encarta Dictionary (MED) has also given the two meanings of Orientalism which are as follow: 1. Oriental trait: a cultural feature associated with the countries, peoples, or cultures of East Asia 2. Study of Eastern Asia: the study of the civilizations of East Asia (MED, 2008). The above given Dictionary meanings of the word, Orientalism cleared the general meanings of word and concepts of Orientalism in 8

9 that Orientalism is a study of the Oriental characteristic, Oriental culture and study of civilization of the East (Orient). These meanings will help us to understand the complex and literary meaning of Orientalism because without understanding of the general and basic meaning of the term we can not deal successfully with the difficult terminology of Edward Said s Orientalism. Edward Said s evaluation and critique of the set of beliefs known as Orientalism forms an important background for postcolonial studies. Orientalism is a way of thinking and that it is founded on the eternal separation and highlighted the distinctiveness between East and West and refers to the amount of West s representation of the Orient. Said s commentary on the construction of such a powerful image of the other has also strengthened European culture and identity by locating itself off against the Orient as a kind of surrogate and even underground self. Orientalism is mainly concerned with certain major arguments which are: relationship, power / knowledge, representation, articulation. Orientalism is a very complex, rational, sensible and difficult terms to understand its nature of arguments and the relationship of the two distinctive poles Orient and Occident correspondingly culture, thoughts ideas and concept of religion. The following argument and definition of scholars, critics and researchers will made this term a lucid and clear to understand. In his seminal study, Orientalism Edward Said speaks about an intellectual tradition of defining and constructing the Orient, of emphasizing the eternal difference or contradiction between East (Orient) and West (Occident) and of preparing the way for domination 9

10 and hegemony over states and societies of the Middle East and other parts of Africa and Asia. Orientalism as a system of scholarship first emerged in the early fourteenth century with the establishment by the Church council of Vienna 1 a number of university chairs to promote an understanding of Oriental language and culture. The main driving force for Orientalism comes from trade, inter-religious rivalries and military conflict. Knowledge of the Orient cannot, therefore, be separated from the history of European expansion in the Middle East and Asia (Turner, 1994:37). Aijaz Ahmad, a renowned critic and scholar in the field of Postcolonial Studies, has remarked in his article, Orientalism and After: Ambivalence and Cosmopolitan Location in the Work of Edward Said (1992) as: Orientalism was clearly not a book of Middle Eastern studies or of any established academic discipline but it did belong for all its academic sophistication, of a well known tradition of writing (Ahmad,2004:272) Said uses the term, Orientalism to represent a Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of unreceptive and critical views of the East (Orient) composed by the approaches of European imperialism in the eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. The knowledge, representation, relationship between East (Orient) and West (Occident) and interpretation are the most important issues and problems of Said s Orientalism. The subtitle of book, Orientalism: the Western conception of the Orient is itself says that the deals with the conception of the Western scholars about the Orient or East. 1 Founded in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German Speaking World. 10

11 Orientalism describes the various kinds of disciplines, method of investigation, institution and style of contemplation by which European came to know the Orient over the several centuries, and which reached their height during the rise and consolidation of Nineteenth century imperialism(ashcroft, 2007:49). Orientalism basically deals with the relationship between culture and politics in the context of imperialism. Therefore number of scholars and critics say that Orientalism is a product of East and West politics. Edward Said s Orientalism is composed of three lengthy chapters with a comprehensive introduction. Said traces the discriminative representation of the Orient by the West right from the days of Aeschylus 2 to the present age. However, the development of studies concerning the Orient into an organized body of knowledge with its own codes and conventions, according to Said, happened during the eighteenth and early Nineteenth century in Europe. Edward Said s Orientalism critiques the tradition of Western construction of the Orient or the East (Habib, 2006:747) and works out a new way of theorizing the last few centuries, when the imperialist West constructed the colonies as strange cultural economic and political objects, needing the civilizing effect of the master race (McLead, 2010). Said has collected the complete narrative of European literature, from Aeschylus to Edward Lane 3, as a history of literature s complicity in a inferiorization of the Orient he has identified the enlightenment itself as an unified trajectory and master sign of both Orientalism and colonialism. (Ahmad, 2004:263). 2 Aeschylus was a great Greek Dramatist (525BC-456 BC) 3 Edward William Lane ( ), English scholar, translator, and lexicographer who studied the life and language of the Egyptians. 11

12 Edward Said defines Orientalism in several ways. He uses the term Orientalism to represent a Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of unreceptive and critical views about the East or Orient, composed by the attitudes of European imperialism in the eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. Orientalism makes a comment on the imitation or interpretation of aspects of Eastern backgrounds, societies and their cultures in the Western world by a number of writers. Edward Said has defined Orientalism in his book, Orientalism as follows: Orientalism, a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient's special place in European Western experience. (Said, 2003:1) Furthermore, he defines Orientalism in the same book as follows: Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between "the Orient" and (most of the time) "the Occident. (Said, 2003:2) a distribution of geopolitical awareness into aesthetic, scholarly, economic, sociological, historical and philological texts. (Said, 2003:12) It could be argued that from Said s perspective Orientalism is a style of thinking which is based on the study of existence and epistemological difference made between the Eastern and most of the time, the Western. Therefore, a very large mass of writers among whom are poets, novelists, philosophers, political theorists, economists and imperial administrators, have accepted the basic distinction between East and West but some are not fully agree with this. The contention of Orientalism is to discuss the issues and problems in the relation of the East (Orient) and the West (Occident), how the Orientalists represented 12

13 and speak for the Orient in their works and the Western attitudes and approaches which are reflected in their writing, behaviour, and action. John McLeod, Professor in English at the University of Leeds, says that Said s Orientalism is a study of how the Western colonial powers of Britain and France represented North African and Middle Eastern Lands in the Late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century s, although Said draws upon other historical moment too. (McLeod, 2010: 38) Therefore, Orientalism deals with the study of European scholar s representation of the Orient in the West. Ranold Inden has commented on the term, Orientalism in his research article entitled Orientalist construction of India as: The term, Orientalism (generally replaced now days by the expression Asian Studies ) has been used to designate that discursive practice on its widest sense. There is, of course, no discipline that takes as its object the study of the whole Asia (Inden, 1986: 406) Arjun Sethi, who is working in University of Maryland, talking about the central idea of Edward Said s Orientalism says that Western or the Orientalist knowledge on the subject of the Orient is not produced from authentic facts or reality, but from predetermined archetypes that imagine all Eastern societies as basically similar to one another, and fundamentally dissimilar to Western or European societies. This a priori knowledge determines the East as antithetical to the West. Such Eastern knowledge is constructed with historical accounts and literary texts that often are of limited understanding of the facts of life in the Middle East (Wikipedia). Edward Said has defined through the function, nature, and task of Orientalism as: 13

14 Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient. (Said: 2003:3) According to the above perception of Orientalism and its function we can say that Orientalism is a group organization for dealing with the Orient beginning in the eighteenth century. In short, Orientalism is an Orientalists technique for how to take control and power over the Orient and take away Orient from any kind of ability to resistance and speak. Orientalism is a term used by Edward Said for the evaluation of the Western scholars or Orientalists attitude, understanding, perception and ideology in their work to legitimize colonial aggression by intellectually dominant West. These concepts were given a new twist by Edward Said s book Orientalism. Edward Said exposes how the West from the eighteenth century and Nineteenth century had undertaken systematic and intentional misrepresentation and unfair criticism of the glorious Orient (East). According to the above discussion we could sum up the definition of Orientalism in different ways: Orientalism can be observed as a manner of thought based upon a particular epistemological and ontological which is establishes a philosophical division between the Orient (East) and the Occident (West). Orientalism may be observed as an academic label to describe a set of directions, disciples and activities, frequently confined to Western universities which have been concerned with the study of Oriental societies and cultures. And it may be considered as a 14

15 corporate institution primarily concerned with the Orient. In this comment on global sociology we will be concerned exclusively with the definition namely as a discourse for a production and constitution of the Orient as the object of particular from of colonial power and knowledge. It is fundamental to note that for Said, Orientalism is not only a positive Western doctrine about the Orient of a certain era, but is also an academic tradition with significance influence and a part of popular Western culture, roofed in travel literature, business, governmental institutions, military activities, natural historians, pilgrims and so on. The crucial and ultimate intention of Orientalism as defines by Said is: Orientalism was ultimately a political vision of reality whose structure promoted the difference between the familiar (Europe, West, "us") and the strange (the Orient, the East, "them"). (Said, 2003:44) Orientalism is an ultimately the result of the political discourse of the West on the idea of the East. The idea is reflected in Orientalists painting, sculptures, writing and political policies. For instance, Jean- Leon Gerome who was a famous painter in his famous painting The Snake Charmer depicted a naked snake charmer. The painted scene represents the Oriental society. The naked young man in the Gerome painting is himself inappropriate in the context of his surroundings, depicted by Gerome as a group of Ottoman "types" dressed and seated in front of a wall decorated with a series of Iznik tile panels and Qajar Persian or Indian armor. A naked snake charmer is/was not a part of the Ottoman popular culture, and the combination of the boy, his audience, and the setting with its inappropriate props is out of place. What is interesting, however, is the extent to which Jean-Leon Gerome has gone 15

16 to portray the setting itself and especially the tile decorations on the wall behind the boy and his audience (Denny, 1993:220). LATENT ORIENTALISM AND MANIFEST ORIENTALISM Edward Said has introduced the two types of Orientalism in his Orientalism: first one is Latent Orientalism and second one is Manifest Orientalism. In the third Chapter (first part) of Orientalism, Edward Said shows how latent and manifest Orientalism worked in combination with the West s scientific, economic and academic power to regenerate a cycle of subjugation, suppression and marginalization of the Orient and the West s domination. Manifest Orientalism has been enclosed of the various stated views about Oriental society, languages, literatures, history, sociology (Said, 2003:207) etc. whereas latent Orientalism has been more a constant, undivided and durable mode of thought. In manifest Orientalism, the differences between Orientalist writers, their personal structure and style of writing have been defined, but the basic content of their writing: The separateness of the Orient, its eccentricity, its backwardness, its silent indifference, its feminine penetrability, its supine malleability (Said, 2003:207) It has reflected the more or less unified latent Orientalism. In addition, latent Orientalism and race classifications have advocated each other, particularly in the Nineteenth century. The Latent Orientalism deals with the philosophical and unconscious or subconscious applications of superiority, and the manifest Orientalism as the application of latent in order to justify Eurocentric perceptions through socially valued institutions, such as science, economy, government, and so on. Edward Said have defined Latent Orientalism and Manifest Orientalism as: 16

17 The distinction I am making is really between an almost unconscious (and certainly an untouchable) positivity, which I shall call latent Orientalism, and the various stated views about Oriental society, languages, literatures, history, sociology, and so forth, which I shall call manifest Orientalism. (Said: 2003:206) Latent and Manifest Orientalism are the two sides of the same coin it means Latent Orientalism is like a outline and proposal, and Manifest Orientalism is very different version s that can build from fundamental the design and implementation of the proposal. It means Latent Orientalism is like a blueprint ; manifest Orientalism is the many different versions that can built from fundamentally the same design (McLeod, 2010:43) According to the above quote it could be argued that Latent Orientalism is the unconscious, unaware, unacquainted and untouchable certainly regarding what kind of Orient is. Its fundamental content is static, motionless and unanimous. The term latent Orientalism is not clearly defined but it seems to signify something like a collective and unconscious shared set of images, approaches and attitudes that does not change through time and period. The Orient has been observed by Said as unconventional, separate, silently dissimilar, backward, and passive. It is a partiality towards despotism and away from progress. Its value and development are judged in terms of, and in comparison of, the West, therefore it is often the Other, the inferior and the controllable. And the manifest Orientalism is an expression in works and action of the latent Orientalism. It is not static, motionless and fixed like latent Orientalism 17

18 but dynamic and active in the nature. Manifest Orientalism has been changed from writer to writer and period to period but latent Orientalism does not change in any situation. Some of the modern scholars argued that latent Orientalism has strong similarity with the certain concepts of ideology, particularly the negative version and form of ideology as false consciousness, this is true, even though Said keep away from using the word ideology have as elsewhere. To some extent confusing, however, no sooner has Said mode the distinction between Latent Orientalism and Manifest Orientalism than he collapses it again, arguing that the two converged in the course of the Nineteenth century. I think Latent Orientalism refers to characteristics of Asian ethos which are secretly or personally a part of Oriental culture, but which are not visible, at East to outside observers, if not anthropologists. But opposite of this Manifest Orientalism are the visible, open characteristics of Asian culture, such as architectural styles, clothing, calligraphy, and artistic creations. Manifest Orientalism is what is spoken and acted upon information, changes in knowledge about the Orient, its nature as well as strategy of determination founded in Orientalist ideology and philosophy. ORIENT AND OCCIDENT: The ballad of Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West has reflected the unlikeness of East and West which never come together according to British Orientalist, Kipling. He says: Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet (Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West) 18

19 Edward Said published his ground-breaking book Orientalism in 1978, a revolutionary study of the stereotypes and colonial assumptions that are intrinsic in Western representations of the Orient or West. According to Said, the Orient is a North African Arab and Middle-Eastern peoples and cultures. In Orientalism, he argues that the Orient has been represented as the binary opposite of the West or Occident. In many respects, the Orient as discussed by Said, is everything about the West which it finds uncomfortable or unsettling to its superior image and which it projects onto its negative conceptualization of the Middle-East. Here, the Orient is noticed as the Occident or West s other. The terms, Orient and Occident are worked as oppositional words. Orientalism refers to the Orient (East) to the opposite of the Occident (West). The notion of an Orient is an important aspect of attempts to define the West or Occident. Orient is a set of imagination, values, ideas, geographical locations which can be seen as the result of many attempts to explain self identity in terms of making an Orient. The Orient and the Occident themes are emerged from Orientalism. The Orient could be perceived as a surrogate or underground Self of Europe, giving strength and identity to European culture. The West (Occident) and the East (Orient) as European ideas have a long tradition behind them including certain ways of imaging, vocabulary and thinking which give the ideas reality and presence in and for the West. (Said, 2003:5) Said examines the vast tradition of Western Constructions of the Orient. Said has used the new kind of methodology to bring the whole matter related to Orientalism to light. The Orient is not an inert fact of nature. It is not merely there, just as the Occident itself is not just there either. We must take 19

20 seriously Vico 4 great observation that men make their own history, that what they can know is what they have made, and extend it to geography: as both geo-graphical and cultural entities to say nothing of historical entities such locales, regions, geographical sectors as "Orient" and "Occident" are man-made. (Said, 2003:4-5) Edward Said has argued that: Orientalism is not an inert fact nature - i.e. it is not only related to geographical reality. It would be wrong to conclude that the Orient was essentially an idea or a creation with no corresponding reality. Said has pointed out Vico s observation about men s creation of own history. Said points so because he knows that the geographical sectors as Orient and Occident are manmade, but along with that there is a brute reality (Said: 2003:5) Orient is, somewhat, an "idea that has a history and a tradition of thought, imagery and vocabulary that has given it reality and presence for the West" (Said, 2003: 5). All this is not to say that the Orient is essentially an idea or creation with no corresponding reality (Said, 2003: 5) which is exerted by the ideas of Orient if at all any such Orient exits in ideas. The Orient is not essentially an idea, because there are peoples, cultures and nations which are located in the area called the Orient. In Orientalism, Edward Said says about the Orient as: The Orient that appears in Orientalism, then, is a system of representations framed by a whole set of forces that brought the Orient into Western learning, Western consciousness, and later, Western empire. (Said, 2003:203) Similarly, an Internet Research Journal, english.emory lucidly says about the Orient that it is signifies a system of representations framed 4 Giambattista Vico, ( ) Italian philosopher of cultural history and law, who is recognized today as a forerunner of cultural anthropology, or ethnology. 20

21 by political forces that brought the Orient into Western learning, Western consciousness, and Western empire. The Orient exists for the West, and is constructed by and in relation to West. It is a mirror image of what is interior and alien other to the West. (Orientalism: 1) Said has also pointed out about the Orient is that the Orient was a word which later accumulated to it an extensive field of meanings, associations, and connotations, and that these did not necessarily refer to the real Orient but to the field surrounding the word. (Said, 2003:203) Weber Max, a German sociologist and political economist and Marx adhered to rather similar accounting schemes to explain the presence of history in Occidental societies and its absence in the Orient. Bryan S. Turner has pointed out their schemes about the Orient in his book entitled, Orientalism, Postmodernism and Globalism as: the Orient is a collection of gaps or a list of deficiencies- the absence of private property, the absence of social classes, and the absence of historical changes in the mode of production. (Turner, 1994:41) While in a common sense terms the Orient embraces an unclear geographical sector broadening from the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean to south-east Asia, Islam and the Islamic heartlands played a peculiarly significant part in the formation of Western attitudes to the East.(Turner,1994:38) Central to Said s analysis is that the Orient is actually a production of Western (Occidental) discourse, a means of self-definition of Western culture as well as of justifying imperial domination of Oriental peoples (Habib, 2006:747). John M. Hobson has given the Orientalist and patriarchal construction of the West versus the 21

22 East or the Occident versus the Orient in his The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation (Hobson: 8) as follows: West/ Occident The dynamic West Inventive, ingenious, proactive Rational Scientific Disciplined, ordered, self-controlled, sane, sensible Mind-oriented Paternal, independent, functional Free, democratic, tolerant, honest Civilised Morally and economically progressive East/Orient The unchanging East Imitative, ignorant, passive Irrational Superstitious, ritualistic Lazy, chaotic/erratic, spontaneous, insane, emotional Body-oriented, exotic and alluring Childlike, dependent, dysfunctional Enslaved, despotic, intolerant, corrupt Savage/barbaric Morally regressive and economically stagnant In the book, Beginning Postcolonialism, John McLeod has observed that the Orient is often depicted in a series of negative terms that provide to support a sense of the West s superiority, dominances and strength. If the West is assumed as the place of knowledge and learning, then it will follow that the Orient is the place of ignorance and naivety. Thus in Orientalism, East and West are positioned through the construction of an unequal dichotomy. The Occident or West takes up a superior position whereas the Orient is in a secondary or inferior position (McLeod, 2010:41). Said does not have to face a feeling of the painful self-consciousness of considering how the Western and Eastern scholars interacted with each other and how this interaction could influence the thought and culture of both. This problem is found in the 22

23 work of the Orientalists who are concerned with the Oriental literature and cultural history of the Orient. The knowledge, representation, relationship between Orient (East) and Occident (West) and interpretation are the most important issues and problems to study Said s Orientalism. To sum up the discussion about the Orient and Occident, it could be said that the construction of the Orient has a political dimension in the Western knowledge about the Orient is very significant in politics of Oriental studies. It is the image of the Orient expressed as a whole system of thought and scholarship. Orientalism talks about the approach of Europeans or Western intellectuals in the direction of the East, and in particular toward the Middle East or Islamic countries. Said has argued in Orientalism that the Westerners have an inadequate concept of the Middle East and its culture and history. ORIENTALIST Orientalists are Westerners who following the predetermined Orient in their mind tried to learn about it. Thus they become the part of the inventors of the Orient. The supposed to be discoverers are themselves the inventers of the Orient. And the modern Orientalists who tried to categories the different aspect of the Orient become themselves another addition of such inventers. (Dash, 2006:64) The earliest "Orientalists" were 19th century scholars who translated the writings of the Orient into English, based on the supposition that an effective colonial conquest required knowledge of the conquered peoples. This is an idea of knowledge as a power exposed by Edward Said. Said thinks that by knowing the Orient, the West came to own it. There is the image 23

24 of the Orient as passive while the West was active. So according to Said, it is imperialism which motivated and forced Orientalism. Without imperialism, Westerners would never have study near and Far Eastern societies and culture. The term and concepts about Orientalist have emerged after the publication of Edward Said s influential book, Orientalism. In Orientalism Said has been examined the attitude, perspective, and strategies of Orientalists and their representation of Orient in the West. He comes to known the objectionable reality of Orientalists perspective and ideology regarding the Orient that will be discussed in later part of this chapter. Firstly we will discuss what an Orientalist is? and what they do with the Orient in their writing? In short, Edward Said s views about the Orientalists, Said has been defined the term, Orientalist in his books Orientalism as: Anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient and this applies whether the person is an anthropologist, sociologist, historian, or philologist either in its specific or its general aspects, is an Orientalist, and what he or she does is Orientalism. (Said: 2003:2) And further place in the same book Said says Orientalist as: whose dynamic is enormously productive even if it always demonstrates the comparatively greater strength of the Occident (British, French, or American), comes the large body of texts I call Orientalist. (Said: 2003:4) According to Edward Said perspective we can say that anyone who belongs to West and he or she writes, teaches or researches about the Orient whether the person is a writer, philosopher, anthropologist, 24

25 sociologist, historian or philologist: who is an Orientalist and whatever he/she does, is an Orientalism. This is something noticeable definition of Orientalism and Orientalists, because Said s definitions of Orientalism and Orientalists is not deal with the single meaning; his one (mentioned above definition) cross to the another definition. Such as, Said says that in the same book is that Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between "the Orient" and (most of the time) "the Occident." (Ibid:3) and on the same page he clears the meaning of style that Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient. (Ibid:3). Aeschylus and Dante are in fact mentions as example of the Orientalist style of thought. It is clear that the Orientalist has a style of domination and restructuring of the Orient its mean they damage or exploit the Orient reality and its structure, according to Edward Said. And the above definition he said that anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient and this applies whether the person is an anthropologist, sociologist, historian, or philologist. Whatever Orientalist does is an Orientalism. These definitions have raised the questions, contradiction and increase the complexity in understanding of Orientalists and Orientalism. Because, in practically, there are number of European scholars, writers, philosophers and anthropologists who appreciated the Orient as well as accepted the Islam which is emerged from the Arab land. And they do not have any kind of dominating style over the Orient. For instance: M.M. Pickthall and Yusuf Green etc are the best example of European scholars who are accepted the Islam. Today they are famous Islamic Scholars. 25

26 According to the Cambridge Dictionary meaning of an Orientalist is a person who studies the language and culture of countries in the East and South East of Asia. The dictionary meaning of Orientalist and literary and philosophical meaning of an Orientalist are slightly different in understanding of the nature of an Orientalist. Therefore the single definition and argument about Orientalism and nature of Orientalist is not possible. It is changed according to subject to subject and person to person. I would like to define an Orientalist as follows: Orientalist is a person especially who belongs to the European and Western countries whether he or she is a painter, philosopher, writer, novelist, poet or socialist who are getting experiences about the Orient and Oriental culture and he or she describes and interprets that experiences according to his perception and ideology; to whom we may call him an Orientalist. There is a list of characteristics of Orientalists notion that follow these two definitions: First characteristic comes from the four elements of eighteenth century thought which laid the basis for modern Orientalists: (European) expansion, historical confrontation, sympathy, classification (Said, 2003:120) there is a classification on Nineteenth century Orientalist writers into three types, the scientific impersonal, the scientific personal and the personal. In Orientalism, the chapter third, Said gives a list of four typical elements of Orientalists discourse in the Twentieth century. These are: the use of generalizations the binominal opposition of ours and theirs, the use of generalizing narrative descriptions and, finally the synchronic essentialism embodied in the use of transcendent, often, 26

27 derogatory categories such as Semitics Said argues that the opposition between our world and theirs always implies that our world is superior to their and that their world depends on ours. (Kennedy, 2000: 23) The Orientalists have invented a complete Eastern character in their work. This is an Orientalist who brought the Eastern elements of culture and history into the Western world. Walter B. Denny in his article entitled Quotations in and out of Context: Ottoman Turkish Art and European Orientalist Painting has been described the body of Orientalists works into three classes, with some blurry boundaries. First is a serious attempt on the part of European artists to record and communicate the experience of another world, to "bring the Orient home. Second the tradition of political Orientalism, propaganda generally directed against the Islamic world ranging from images resulting from war. Third Orientalists painting are shares of both the first two, but concentrates neither on accuracy of depiction nor on an overt political message. Best termed "exoticism," this category of Orientalist works concentrates on the "other-ness" (Denny, 1993:219) The Orientalists present the style of thought which deal and interact with the Orient and Oriental culture. It is intention of Orientalist to subjugate and present the knowledge of Oriental people in the West. According to Said, the Orientalists have constructed not merely a body of knowledge but the whole category of the Orient. In Said s expressions, every European, in what he could say about the Orient, was consequently a racist, an imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric (Said, 2003: 204) a 27

28 statement that reads strangely in a book seemingly opposed to comprehensive, essentialist generalizations. One of the main purposes of the Orientalist about the study of Orient was to propagate the religious domination. That means they had and have intention to spread the superiority of Christianity and misconception about the Islam and other Oriental religion. To sum up the discussion about Orientalist as that Orientalist is a person who study, research, analysis and represents the knowledge of Orient and Oriental culture according to Orientalist perception, Western point of view, styles and strategies. DISCOURSES ON ORIENTALISM In the recent years scholars involved in such studies have become increasingly aware of the extent to which Western discourse about the East reflects the power relations between the Western and the Eastern societies. In the postcolonial period, it has become imperative, therefore, to examine this relationship between with critical judgment. The ground breaking work of Edward Said Orientalism: Western Concepts of the Orient. The book launched a stinging critique of Western ideas and notions of the East and the ways in which Orientalist discourse has legitimated the colonial aggression and political supremacy of the Western world. (King, 1999:62) Orientalism is a developed, full-fledged and matured discourse, not just a simple idea. Orientalism is an entrenched and deep-rooted structure of thought and a pattern of making certain generalizations about the section of the world known as the 28

29 East or the Orient. Edward Said makes a significant comment about his contention of Orientalism as: without examining Orientalism as a discourse one cannot possibly understand the enormously systematic discipline by which European culture was able to manage and even produce the Orient politically, sociologically, militarily, ideologically, scientifically, and imaginatively during the post- Enlightenment period. (Said, 2003:3) Foucault s influence on Edward Said shows in his argument that Orientalism is a universal form of discourse to understand it and one must account for its extensive field and context of imbalanced relations of power. Orientalism, as a discourse, is attributed and qualified the authority of academics, institutions and governments and such authority raises the discourse to a level of importance and status that guarantees it recognition with truth. (Ashcroft, 2007:63) Before going to further detail discussion on the subject of Orientalism as a discourse I have it in mind to introduce basic concepts of discourse. The MS-Encarta Dictionary (MED) has defined a discourse as: the word discourse is in (15th century) Latin word, discursus which means running to and fro, disurrere to run apart and currere to run and the dictionary has also defined a discourse in two meanings as: Seriously speak or write on topic: to speak or write about a subject in a formal context and at length. In the second part, the author discourses on ethics. And a second meaning of discourse is: to Converse: to have a conversation (formal) (MED, 2008). In the article, Orientalist discourse in media texts, Necla Mora has rightly described a discourse as follows: 29

30 In critical discourse analysis, discourse is a social application that represents the world; gains meaning in time, place, social, cultural and ideological context; is intentional regardless that grammatical features and structures were selected consciously or unconsciously; and is the representation of social implementations like biasness, power and resistance. (Mora, 2009:420) A discourse, according to Ashcroft and Pal, has given a very lucid and particular definition of discourse is that: a discourse is a system of statements within which and by which the world can be known. Rather than referring to speech in the traditional sense, Foucault s notion of discourse is a firmly bounded area of social knowledge. For him, the world is not simply there to be talked about, rather it is discourse itself within which the world come into being. It is also in such a discourse that speakers and hearers, writers and readers, come to an understanding about themselves, their relation to each other and their place in the world (the construction of subjectivity). It is that complex of signs and practices that organises social existence and social reproduction, which determine how experiences and identities are categorised. (Ashcroft, 2007:14). According to Foucault, a discourse is that a firmly surrounded area of social knowledge that refers to verbal and non-verbal communicative acts and it spread through all the field of human activity in Western or European society. The concepts and notion of discourse are that literary critics had long made informal use of the discourse, especially in application to passages representing conversations between characters in a literary work, and in the 1970s 30