ORIENTALISM AND VISUAL CULTURE

Fall 2021

Instructor: Sezen Kayhan, Institute for Film, Theater, Media and Cultural Studies,
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Class Hours: Thursday, 12:15-13:45
Class Location: via Zoom

Course Description

This course aims to explore the politics of representation with a focus on 'Orientalist'
traditions in the visual arts. The artistic fascination with the ‘Orient’ has developed with the
colonial ambitions of the West and inspired by the exotic trips to the Middle and Far East.
Edward Said’s seminal work “Orientalism” suggested that describing and mapping the East by
the West is a mechanism of colonialism designed to justify Western imperialism. The artistic
fascination with the Orient is also developed with a background of colonial ambitions.
Throughout the course we will look at Orientalism in its artistic, political and historical contexts
with addressing the notions of mysticism, exoticism, nostalgic traditionalism and authenticity
in visual arts.

In the course we will discuss the postcolonial theory and critically analyse a wide range of
individual cases, including the paintings of Western artists (e.g. Delacroix, Gérôme, Deutsch,
Lewis and Matisse), visual depictions in literary works of Western authors (e.g. Flaubert, Gide,
Cocteau), Hollywood movies and Netflix series. Case studies, drawn from the late eighteenth
century until today, will primarily focus on the depictions of the Middle East and Africa, by
artists from Europe and the U.S. In addition, the course will also explore the views and
reactions of Eastern artists and intellectuals against being misrepresented and othered by the
Orientalist discourse

Contact Information
E-mail: kayhanse@uni-mainz.de

Required Materials
Weekly readings will be uploaded to Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bbjo12D7tYBsm8CvYHmYa5Qd71yEe72Q?usp=sh
aring

It is important that you read the materials of the week before you come to class, since we
will discuss themes of the week through them.
Requirements and Grading
Attendance and Participation 20%
Presentation 30%
Final Paper 50%
Attendance and Participation
Your participation grade consists of regular attendance and prepared and substantial
participation in class discussions. Missing classes and coming late to class will affect your
grade. If you do miss class, for whatever reason, it is your responsibility to find out what
happened and prepare for the following class. Concerning lateness, every third lateness will
count as an absence.
Presentations
You will give one 10-minute presentation in the last weeks of the semester. You will selectan
artist of your choice. You will prepare a presentation (Powerpoint, Keynote etc.), upload it to
the related Google Drive folder and present it to the class. You will be given a written feedback
on this till the end of semester.

Final Paper
You will be provided a list of topics and art works related to course material. You will submit
a short term paper around 5 pages (+/- 10%, around 2000 words) essay towards the end of
the semester. Your paper should manifest critical thinking and engagement with class
discussions; must include proper citation to related course reading material, as well as
additional reading you do for the paper.

Requirements of the paper: https://www.ftmk.uni-mainz.de/files/2021/04/Stylesheet_Fiwi-

MeDra_2021.pdf

Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism, as defined as ‘borrowing or using someone else’s written statements or ideas
without giving written acknowledgement to the author, and other forms of academic
dishonesty are not acceptable. All individual assignments must be completed by the student
himself/herself without the aid of other individuals.

Weekly Schedule

Week 1 (Oct 21)

Introduction to the Course

Week 2 (Oct 28)

The Orientalist Debate and Postcolonial Theory

Reading: Said, Edward. ‘Orientalism’: ‘Introduction’.

Week 3 (Nov 4)
Romanticism and Orientalist Painting

Reading: Nochlin, Linda. ‘The Imaginary Orient’

Benjamin, Roger. ‘Orientalism: Delacroix to Klee’, pp. 7-18.
Week 4 (Nov 11)
Harem in Art and Literature

Reading: Alloula, Malek. ’Colonial Harem’.

Lewis, Reina. ‘Selling the Harem’.

Week 5 (Nov 18)

Orientalism in Early Modern Art

Reading: Benjamin, Roger. ‘Orientalism: Delacroix to Klee’, pp. 18-29.

Dussel. ‘Eurocentrism and Modernity’.

Week 6 (Nov 25)

Orientalist Photography

Reading: Khemir, Mounira. ‘The Orient in the Photographers’ Mirror’

Week 7 (Dec 2)
Early Filmic Depictions of the Orient

Reading: Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. 'Stereotypes, Realism and Struggle Over Representation'

Week 8 (Dec 9)
Orientalism in Contemporary Film

Reading: Nadel, Alan. ‘A Whole New Disney World Order: Aladdin, Atomic Power and the
Muslim Middle East.

Week 9 (Dec 16)

Orientalism and Self-Orientalism on Television/Digital Platforms

Reading: Maatouk, Stefan. ‘Orientalism – A Netflix Unlimited Series A Multimodal Critical

Discourse Analysis of The Orientalist Representations of Arab Identity in Netflix
Film and TV.’

Week 10 (Jan 3)
Eastern Artists Against Orientalist Discourse

Reading: Kemal, Namık. ‘Europe Knows Nothing About the Orient’

Seyfeddin, Ömer. ‘Secret Sanctuary’

Week 11 (Jan 13)

Thoughts on Gendered Orientalism

Reading: Aliye, Fatma. ‘The Woman of Islam’.

Lugones, Maria. ‘Toward a Decolonial Feminism’.

Week 12 (Jan 20)

Class Presentations
Week 13 (Jan 27)
Class Presentations

Week 14 (Feb 3)
Conclusions