– Example of Orientalism

– For the purpose of this class, Orientalism includes more than just the Middle East. I think it can apply to any non-Western / Industrial-European culture that it being represented to a Western audience.

Consider these questions in light of the essay “Art, Advertising, and Empire” as well as Edward Said, Kehinde Wiley, and other materials we have discussed and have been presented within this Module. Please answer all parts of Part 1 and Part 2 to the best of your ability. Also, please submit this in essay paragraph format.

SUMMARY

This assignment requires you to do 3 things:

Discuss your understanding of “othering” in relationship to the idea of Orientalism

Provide a visual example which you believe is “Orientalist” and explain why

Part 1: Discussing “the Other” as it applies to Orientalism

Why do you think that people choose to classify and create distinctions between separate groups?

What do you think are the impacts of separating people like that?

Part 2: Discussing the exotic

There is a certain “exotic” quality given to the “Orient” within Orientalism.

Find an image have you seen outside of our class that you believe is exploitation or stereotyping of a non-Western culture in film or in videos.

NOTE: I will not accept your assignment if you use an image that has been shown in our class or in the modules.

This may be easier for you, but I would like you to point to something in our modern American culture that you believe misrepresents another culture. As above, I would like it to be some aspect of culture- most likely an art movement or something within the arts (examples: music, dance, sculpture, etc. ) rather than an exploration of a holiday (such as Day of the Dead), or a neighborhood – such as Chinatown. Please detail how your choice shows that it does not fairly represent that non-Western culture.

A lot of descriptions can fall under the term “Orientalism” so use whichever term helps you complete this part of the Discussion: exploitation, stereotyping, appropriation, caricature- describe something you feel does not give a proper context to a culture outside of the US/European culture that is part of our own.

Describe how you think that that image being represented better has made it more difficult (for example, playing off of stereotypes or prejudices)?

(NOTE: I want to repeat- please do not discuss any of the ads that we saw in class, or any of the ads we saw for any previous assignments.)