Art and Literature as Orientalist Media
BACKGROUND ON ORIENTALIST ART:
Colonialism has cast a long, dark shadow on many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. At one point, European powers controlled over 85% of the earth's surface in some form of colony, dominion or protectorate (Gordon, 905). This included countries like Algeria, Iraq and India, which were controlled either directly or from afar by their Imperial governments. While this economic, political and cultural colonialism lasted for decades, Western countries still lacked an understanding of those they colonized. The objective of this page is to explore the roots of Orientalism through art and literature, and how the images produced in the early twentieth century are still salient today. In the late nineteenth century a new academic field of study- Orientalism- was born. These scholars sought to study the 'Arab' world and educate Western audiences. A primary way this was done was through art. In Orientalist paintings the Arab or Muslim subject was often depicted as something exotic, mysterious, and sensual. This is how Western academic communities perceived the Arab world to be. It was not based on facts, but a romanticized vision of the 'Other'. Popular Orientalist artists were Eugene Delacroix, Ludwig Deutsch and Jean-Leon Gerome. Literature: Another way Orientalsim took root was through literature. In order to understand the ‘Orient’, many Europeans relied on travelogues that romanticized, fetishised and fictionalized Islam. Tales of trips to the Middle East painted a fantastic picture in the minds of European audiences.Oriental imagery can be found not only in travel guides, but in contemporary publications- like in Samuel Coleridge's poem "Kubla Kahn" or Richard Burton's "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights". In these writings, Arabs became fictionalized as an irrational, backwards thinking mind- completely opposite from 'Enlightened' Europeans. These Orientalist ideas became popularized during the mid to late nineteenth century, and helped define Europe as its contrasting image (Said ,2). They reflected Western ideas of the 'Other' and reinforced notions of Occidental supremacy. |
Orientalist photographs:
The development of photography as an art form was further strengthened the discursive power of Orientalism. Postcards with photographs allowed Oriental images to be widely dispersed and circulated- covering all colonial space and immediately available (Allouia, 4). This was particularly true in European colonies, like Algeria, where pictures of Algerian women were put on postcards for French visitors to send home to friends and family. Europeans no longer had to read about Muslims, but could look at a photograph and discern everything they needed to know. What was particularly important about Orientalist photographs was power of the gaze and the sexualization of the Arab woman. The women used in the photographs have provocative poses that encourage voyeurism. They appear to offer their bodies to be possessed by the colonizer. |
Media, in any form, is an incredibly powerful instrument. It disseminates ideas quickly to the public, who accept the information as truths. But the image of the Orient as presented through Orientalist literature and art is a stereotype, a phantasm. It sexualized the Middle East and perpetuated racism and xenophobic ideas of who Arabs were. These Orientalist stereotypes and biases have lasted into modernity and paved the way for modern Islamophobia (Sheehi, 38). If modern Islamophobia is to be understood, it is necessary to be aware of its roots in colonial discourse. |
Sources:
Allouia, Malek, Colonial Harem, Routledge: New York, 1986
Gordon, Ruth, "Saving Failed States: Sometimes a Neocolonialist Notion". American University Law Review 12.6 (1997): 903-74.
Said, Edward Orientalism Parthenon Books: New York, 1979
Sheechi, Stephen, Islamophobia: the ideological campaign against Muslims, Clarity Press: New York,
Gordon, Ruth, "Saving Failed States: Sometimes a Neocolonialist Notion". American University Law Review 12.6 (1997): 903-74.
Said, Edward Orientalism Parthenon Books: New York, 1979
Sheechi, Stephen, Islamophobia: the ideological campaign against Muslims, Clarity Press: New York,