Discourse & Orientalism (1-11-17 Lecture)

In a reading that influenced Edward Said, what is the relationship b/w power and truth?

knowledge/ truth are produced through certain power relations; are not a matter of fact, but the outcome of a power struggle; truth is not outside power; society's "regime/politics of truth"=the types of discourse society accepts and makes function as true

What is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)?

mode of analyzing; Examines how power and inequality are reproduced or resisted through language; focus on social problems/political issues

Parameters of Orientalism

Academic Field, A Style of Thought, A Corporate Institution

What are the 5 Orientalist myths identified by Deepa Kumar?

1. [monolithic] Islam is a monolithic religion 2. [sexist] Islam is a uniquely sexist religion 3. [irrational] The "Muslim mind" is incapable of reason and rationality 4. [violent] Islam is an inherently violent religion 5. [uncivilized] Muslims are incapable of democracy and self-rule

Why are Said's writings controversial?

1. [objectivity] Deconstructs the idea that there is "objective" knowledge 2. [power structures] Forces scholars to examine their own position as well as structures of power in their analyses 3. [politics of representation] Highlights need to study the politics of representation 4. [Postcolonial studies] Led to the creation of Postcolonial Studies and significantly influenced anthropology, history, literary studies, etc. 5. [discredits knowledge] Discredits centuries of "knowledge" produced by Europe about other peoples/challenges authority of "Western knowledge"

What are binary oppositions?

A cultural logic that constructs meaning through categories that are opposite and hierarchical: i.e. male/female, West/East, civilized/barbaric

What is Orientalism (long definition)?

Europe's representations of the East A lens or perspective that distorts the peoples, cultures, and lived realities of the Middle East; Europe's "Other": Has helped define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience (68); Not just an idea, but has an accompanying reality: a mode of discourse with supporting institutions, vocabulary, scholarship, imagery, doctrines, even colonial bureaucracies and colonial styles (68)

What is meant by Orientalism being "A Style of Thought"?

accepts the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, "mind," destiny, and so on

What is a discourse?

The system of representation in language; How we depict or represent reality through language; Meaning often made in relation and through binary oppositions; The verbal or linguistic manifestation of an ideology.

What is meant by Orientalism being "A Corporate Institution"?

a Western style for dominating and having authority over the Orient by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, teaching it, settling it, and ruling over it

What is Orientalism (short definition)?

a form of knowledge which authorizes and justifies the assertion of Western power over the Arab world

What is an ideology?

a set of ideas or beliefs

What is the "Other"?

that which is understood as the symbolic opposite/binary opposite to the normative category; i.e. slave (vs master), terrorist (vs democratic citizen), fanatic (vs moderate)

What are the "politics of representation"?

the representation might say more about you than the people you are representing

What does it mean to be "naturalized"?

the way in which an ideology becomes "common sense" to the extent that it goes unnoticed

What is meant by Orientalism being an "Academic Field"?

those who teach and write about the Orient