Marcus Nathan R.

Ymata
AB PHILOSOPHY 2-1N
MODERN ASIAN THOUGHT

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE - ORIENTALISM

For most of us, Orientalism seems like it was coined for the cultural field of study
pertaining to the encompassing of studies that focused on what was produced by the East
during the 18th century. Focusing more on what the ancient societies had produced, these
intellectuals and scholars, mostly from Western societies like from Europe and North
America, had presented this general enthusiasm to these “Oriental” produced studies. This
study seemed too pressed on the fact that the West is eager to learn what different Eastern
societies produce, but seemingly selective to the thing they want to focus on, or even worse,
had viewed what the East had produced in the light of what the West have had. This is when
Edward Said, through his work aptly named “Orientalism”, used the term “Orientalism” as
this demeaning conception, a deconstruction of what the “Oriental” had produced from
their “Occidental” lens.
In this book, he presented different meanings on the terms that were presented by these
scholars and intellectuals from the west, mixed in with his own definitions. These
definitions do present their own set of problems as well which I will put up after explaining
through my own interpretation.
An interpretation that caught my interest is “Orientalism is a style of thought based
upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between “the Orient” and
“the Occident”. This presents a great distinction between the East and West, where
Western intellectuals and scholars had distinctively categorized the products of stuff like
culture, literature, and even their own customs. This presents this sort of one-sidedness,
which when seen only through the lens of the West, has made the actual interpretations or
meaning behind these pieces distorted, playing to what they want it to mean and not its
actual meaning.
Another interpretation of it is that “Orientalism, as a Western style for dominating,
restructuring, and having authority over the orient.”. As I said in the introduction,
Orientalism is a deconstruction of what the “Oriental” has produced. We’ve seen
Orientalism as the west making statements about what their ideas are, authorizing these
ideas, selling, teaching, and even ruling over it. The West had taken over and had
interpreted our own ideas in their own accord, even by their own rules.
Last meaning I’d like to mention is Said’s own interpretation which is “The Orient was
almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic
beings, haunting memories and landscapes, and remarkable experiences.”. This
interpretation clearly shows that Orientalism didn’t just pop out from anywhere, but it was
created from the interpretations of the people outside of the orient during the time period.
“Asia” was just an experience for them, such as the American’s experience of Japan molded
Japan during the period. We can relate this to another interpretation which is “To speak of
Orientalism therefore is to speak mainly, although not exclusively, of a British and
French cultural enterprise.”.
The major flaw which had been brought by the concept of Orientalism goes beyond this
construction of geopolitically-based stereotypes and prejudice brought by this Western
Idea of completely simplifying or “westernizing” the wonderful ideas brought by the west.
These ideas also bring to the spotlight this sort of realization where one the west is
bringing some-sort of superiority over the people who they considered to be “complete
opposites” just because they are from the other side of the globe. This Hegemonic takeover
is something that the colonizers brought to us, we had seen their ideas, culture, and image
as superior because they had imposed these ideas on us and it took them time to do so.
But, even though we are held with ball and chain by the idea of Orientalism, we can truly
transcend beyond their ideals, especially with the help of modern culture. We are able to
speak for ourselves, by ourselves, in the modern era. We are already in the works on
changing these Western ideals of what the East is through this sharing of our own culture
and meaning, through media such as Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite”, an Asian-centered story
with an Asian cast, being the first Asians to win the best screenplay Oscar. Asian have
already been introducing themselves to the world, we aren’t as voiceless as before. This sort
of intercultural exchange, presenting our products to the world, may help us break down
these barriers and help us transcend these norms, from education, to culture.