Answer To: 未命名6Write no more than 3-5 paragraphs per answer, no more than one page per question. You are not...
Megha answered on Oct 12 2022
1. Edward Said’s use of the term Orientalism has three distinctive meanings or areas of entanglement, but his work drives the role of scholarship in furthering empire and power. Discuss Said’s definition of Orientalism, and illustrate with examples from the reading and lecture notes how colonial forces shape the world.
Ans: Edward Said challenged the concept of Orientalism that believes that there are massive distinctions between the East and the West. The West or Europeans characterized themselves as the superior race compared to the East or the Orients. The Orients were not seen as citizens but as problems to be solved.
By the early 19th century, an extensive plurality of the world's nations were colonised by the European authorities. The resource-driven exploitation and empire building has a massive impact on the nations and its people like- environmental degradation, economic instability, human rights violation, rivalries due to ethnic differences, drain of wealth, deaths due to war and diseases. However, infrastructure development like schools, healthcare centres, introduction of civil services, enforcement of law and order were some of the positive effects on the lives of the colonized people.
Spanish and Portuguese conquest of Latin America; Portuguese, initially, followed by French and later British invasion of India; the scramble for Africa- Apartheid are few among the many examples of colonised nations. History speaks volumes of the sufferings of these people and how they fought together as a nation against the alien forces.
2. Edward Said introduces the idea of Latent and Manifest Orientalism; what is the theoretical foundation behind it, how does he map it, and what are the impacts in the real world? What are the links between Latent and Manifest Orientalism in formulating policy relating to the Global South?
Ans: Latent and Manifest Orientalism are the strands types of Orientalism. Latent Orientalism is the set of ideas and unconscious attempts about the existence of Orients. The Orient is noticed as inferior, silently distinct, stagnant and different. Its progress is seen in comparison to that of the West, so it is always inferior. Manifest Orientalism refers to the real-world interactions about Oriental languages, literature, history, sociology, and related policy decisions.
Edward Said’s idea of Orientalism is that greed is the main motivating aspec. in intellectual purpose. Said claims for the help of ‘narrative’ instead of a ‘vision’ in deciphering the geographic terrains known as the Orient. The intellectual is obliged to study the additional minor cultural elements. The Asian person must be given a voice.
Orientalism has impacted the process of knowledge production and consumption. It gave rise to comparative methods in humanities and social sciences and highlighted the cultural, economic, social and political differences in society.
3. The idea of Orientalism was focused initially on the Middle East, but, in due time, Said’s work has extended beyond the initial scope and served as a stepping stone for the emergence of postcolonial theory and an examination of the whole field of representation that is deployed opposite the Global South. How do we understand Said’s work in settings outside the original scope, how the system of representation is...