USWP07: Orientalisms

Topical Introduction

As we enter the 21^st century and face the challenges of a new global economy, the age-old cultural question of "East" versus "West" becomes increasingly more important to engage and rethink. What do we understand about the categories of "East" and "West" and the way they are being constructed? How do they interact, and what are the cultural implications of this interaction? How can we critically and productively situate this East-West dynamic within the context of Western imperialism and colonialism? Edward W. Said, in his landmark Orientalism, has begun to address these questions by unveiling the way discourses constructed by the West about the East have formed a mode of cultural domination and hegemony. These "Orientalist" discourses often provide the ideological and cultural justification for European imperialism and colonization of the "Third World." In this module we will trace some of Said's arguments and those of his detractors, as well as, his critical heirs; address notions such as mimicry, alterity, colour consciousness, and monstrosity; and examine how Orientalism is really a multifaceted and complex creature capable of spawning other versions of itself, for instance "self-Orientalism." By first reading some theoretical texts to gain an understanding of the different issues at stake, we will then engage a diverse range of literary and filmic works including E. M. Forster's A Passage to India, David Hwang's M. Butterfly, George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and director Wayne Wang's Chinese Box. Our work in this module, therefore, will form the critical and textual terrain on which we can challenge our critical thinking processes and reexamine our own assumptions about these issues. Because this is fundamentally a writing course, students are expected to pay particular attention to textual analysis in terms of close readings, to participate actively and productively in class discussion, and to compose thoughtfully argued and well-articulated essays.

Rhetorical Introduction

Writing is an exciting intellectual activity! At the same time, it is a demanding and complex process that involves not only linguistic proficiency but also a willingness to stretch the boundaries of one's thinking and to question one's assumptions. Also, contrary to a traditional view of the author as an isolated unit of creative production, writing is a social process, where our background and cultural heritage determine our thinking, and in that we enter into dialogue with our peers through our writing.

On the basis of these philosophies of writing, this course requires students to immerse themselves into the initial part of the writing process (a) by reading the course material closely and critically, so as to identify the theses, rhetoric, assumptions, and prejudices of the author, artist, or filmmaker and to situate these texts within their historical, social, cultural and political context; and (b) by asking astute questions about our own ideas and assumptions regarding these issues in a self-critical manner. The mode of inquiry of "Orientalisms" as a course is what Rey Chow calls "Orientalism-critique" within the field of cultural studies. It is a form of deconstructive reading that unhinges the connections between power and knowledge as evident in colonialist discourses. By participating in this sort of deconstructive analysis, students will have the opportunity to learn and put into practice some principles of critical thinking and, therefore, achieve the above goals. However, I must emphasize that deconstruction is not epistemological destruction. Rather, it mobilizes critical analysis, not for its own sake, but as a hope for judicious evaluation, eventual reconstruction, and, to use Arif Dirlik's term, a "liberating practice."

In order for students to further appreciate and understand the social nature of writing, there will be a strong emphasis on class discussion, student presentations, reading responses, peer review of essay drafts, and instructor-student conferences. The essay assignments will focus on the construction of an effective thesis, development of strong arguments, deployment and analysis of primary and critical literature, appropriate formatting, documentation and bibliography, and the development of a writing style that is acceptable to academic and intellectual communities.

Unit 1.    Said's Orientalism and its Critics

Michel Foucault argues that certain power relations lead to the construction of certain kinds of knowledge, and this knowledge or discourse in turn reinforces the very power that has produced it. By drawing on this notion of discourse, Edward Said defines "Orientalism" as a mode of Western discourse "for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient." In thus premising his magisterial Orientalism (1978), Said explores the problematic categories of "East" and "West" and their interdependencies in an age of colonial and imperial domination and hegemony. Orientalist discourses, as Said points out, serve the imperialist cause by articulating the boundaries of these categories ("East" and "West") in order to justify, from a cultural standpoint, the project of Empire building and to reinforce power and control over the colonized. The fact that the controversial thesis of Orientalism has provoked such varied and passionate responses from numerous critics and scholars offers us the intellectual ground on which we can practice our critical and analytical skills: What exactly is Said's definition of "Orientalism" as a discursive formation, and what are the philosophical bases for his arguments? What are the cultural, intellectual, and institutional implications and consequences of Said's critique? Has Said "gone too far," or is his critique insufficient? How does our knowledge of Orientalism change the way we read colonialist texts and our colonial past? To address these questions, we will, first of all, read some of Said's arguments in Orientalism. After which, we will engage some of the arguments marshaled by Orientalism's defenders and critics in the theoretical maelstrom that has erupted since the publication of Said's book. The close readings of these texts will constitute the basis for the first essay assignment in this unit.

Rhetorical Objectives for Unit 1

• How to read a text closely and to determine its main thesis and sub-points.
• How to examine the kinds of arguments and the supporting evidence used.
• How to evaluate the appropriateness of the supporting evidence.
• How to appreciate the way the social, cultural, political, and historical contexts determine the sort of text an author produces and the kinds of arguments he or she makes.
• How to pose critically rigourous, challenging, and insightful questions in order to dissect an argument.
• How to generate essay topics and brainstorm for ideas.
• How to establish a clear and concise thesis statement in an essay.
• How to organize ideas into an effective argumentative structure for an essay.
• How to use clear language to express ideas.
• How to establish a theoretical position on or an interpretation of a text.
• How to marshal textual evidence from a single text to support one's interpretation.
• How to challenge binary oppositions and thinking.

Sample Readings for Unit 1

1. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1978. 1-28.
2. Said, Edward W. "Arabs, Islam and the Dogmas of the West," "My Thesis," and "Latent and Manifest Orientalism." Orientalism: A Reader. Ed. A. L. Macfie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000. 104-107; 111-114.
3. Kopf, David. "Hermeneutics Versus History." Orientalism: A Reader. Ed. A. L. Macfie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000. 194-207.
4. Richardson, Michael. "Enough Said." Orientalism: A Reader. Ed. A. L. Macfie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000. 208-216.
5. Sadik Jalal al-'Azm. "Orientalism and Orientalism in Reverse." Orientalism: A Reader. Ed. A. L. Macfie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000. 217-238.
6. Lewis, Bernard. "The Question of Orientalism." Orientalism: A Reader. Ed. A. L. Macfie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000. 249-270.
7. Porter, Dennis. "Orientalism and its Problems." Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader. Eds. Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. New York: Columbia UP, 1994. 150-161.
8. Said, Edward. "Orientalism Reconsidered." Orientalism: A Reader. Ed. A. L. Macfie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000. 345-361.

Unit 2.    Orientalism-Critique: Mimesis, Nostalgia, Alterity

The importance of Orientalism to the project of Empire building extends beyond a simple unidirectional form of epistemological domination: the West attempting to know and define the East. The Orient as depicted by Orientalist discourses also serves "to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience," as Said points out. Therefore, Orientalism philosophically informs the cultural identity formation of both a Western subjectivity and an Eastern alterity, with the power of discourse and articulation frequently in the hands of the former (especially when the centre of knowledge production was often located in the West). This crucial schematic of East-West relations is a simplified conceptualization of a now much more complex relationship of cultural interdependency.

Post-Orientalism theorists and critics in recent years have expanded upon and unearthed further layers of the problematic first laid out by Said: What is the impact of an Orientalist-based notion of Eastern alterity on various postcolonial cultures and peoples? Is this Eastern identity of Otherness homogenous? Or has it developed into hybrid forms and even produced what Michael Taussig calls a "hierarchy of alterities"-the good native versus the bad native? Did the demise of European empires signify the irrelevance and "death" of Orientalism, hence relegating it to the dust heap of history? Or has Orientalist discourses refurbished and reconstituted itself to meet the challenges of 21^st century globalization? In an age of postcolonial oppositionality and nationalist pride, do we still retain our Orientalized conceptions of race and colour? Do patriarchy, gender, and sexuality figure into Orientalist discourses? In what way does the media perpetuate Orientalist discourses and attitudes? How has the rise of imperialist nostalgia and revivalism affected the media's role in reifying Orientalist stereotypes of peoples and cultures in postcolonial nations?

Our readings in this unit will venture into this territory so that students can analyze concepts such as colonial mimicry, imperialist nostalgia, colour and racial consciousness, the colonialist gaze, monstrosity and alterity, gender and colonial discourse, Orientalism and sexualities, and the issue of subaltern self-definition and representation. Essay Two is a compare/contrast assignment based on the issues raised in this unit. It will allow students to examine how two texts can enter into dialogue with each other, hence offering different or complementary readings on an issue.

Rhetorical Objectives for Unit 2

• How to distinguish the rhetorical purposes of different literary genres.
• How to deploy and coordinate texts of various genres.
• How to use theoretical and technical words productively and strategically.
• How to document the use of material in an essay, using either the MLA or Chicago format.
• How to structure an argument in opposition to a position taken in another essay.
• How to ask the appropriate questions in order to unearth the assumptions behind a particular position.

Sample Readings for Unit 2

1. Forster, Edward Morgan. A Passage to India. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1952.
2. Dyer, Richard. White. London: Routledge, 1997. 1-40; 145-180.
3. Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M. H. Abrams. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993. 2228-2233.
4. Kincaid, Jamaica. "A Small Place." The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. Eds. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, & Helen Tiffin. London: Routledge, 1995. 92-94.
5. Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace. Dir. George Lucas.

Unit 3.    Self-Orientalisms

The postcolonial era is characterized by anti-colonialist resistance, decolonization, and nationalism in so-called Third World countries. Often, in reaction to years of Western domination, formerly colonized peoples, in attempts at cultural self-definition, would resort to a rejection of all things "Western" and would embrace an "Eastern" culturalism that can be described as traditionalist, essentialist (returning to one's cultural "fundamentals"), centrist, and/or nativist. Can this culturalism turn into a mode of self-Orientalism in its reification of its Eastern cultural essence? (In other words, do we resort to proving that we are truly and purely Eastern, as a strategy of resisting Western cultural imperialism?) Is self-Orientalism basically a re-deployment and, thereby, a reaffirmation of the older mode of Orientalist discourse? How can we disrupt the binary opposition of tradition versus modernity that frames Orientalist and self-Orientalist configurations of culture? Can self-Orientalism become a pandering to the colonialist gaze, particularly in a global economy where postcolonial nations see the need to court transnational capital in order to survive and prosper (Singapore Airline's ad on the "Singapore Girl" or Jackie Chan's Shanghai Noon)? On the other hand, should we brand all turns to cultural tradition as self-Orientalist gestures? Is it actually possible for self-Orientalism to offer oppositional moments in postcolonial cultural productions? Through the readings in this final unit, we will address these questions and hopefully raise new ones.

The final essay assignment is a much more complex project than the earlier two assignments in that it will involve some research and library spadework, and will include the use of more intricate argumentative structures. You will also have the freedom to choose a topic of interest (but within the confines of Orientalism and its related topics, of course). Your reading responses will come in handy here in helping you brainstorm for ideas that you may have encountered throughout the semester. This essay must cover at least two of the texts we have read from any of the three units but must not repeat the topics you have used for the first two essays.

Rhetorical Objectives for Unit 3

• How to identify the ideological underpinnings of a text or an argument.
• How to bring one's theory or interpretation of a work into contact with a conflicting theory or interpretation.
• How to use historical, cultural, and biographical information to analyze an author's arguments and text.
• How to deal with the notion of contradiction, be it cultural or philosophical.
• How to engage in self-critique, as a means of critically examining one's own arguments and assumptions and testing their validity.
• How to do research in a library, in "fieldwork," or on the web.
• How to organize your research and work it into your essay.
• How to credit others when using their work in quotation, summary, or paraphrase.
• How to deploy different texts, often of various genres, in a longer essay project.

Sample Readings for Unit 3

1. Chow, Rey. Writing Diaspora: Tactics of Intervention in Contemporary Cultural Studies. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1993. 1-54.
2. Ong, Aihwa. Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1999. 55-83.
3. Wang, Wayne. Chinese Box.
4. Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1988.
5. Heng, Ivan, and Cheowee Leow. An Occasional Orchid. Unpublished manuscript, 1999.