After reading the clarification post regarding Orientalism, I then went to news articles about stories in the Middle East and did the dreaded: read the comments section. Though I expected to see many Arab stereotypes and anti-Islamism, I truly had no idea that so many people (in fact, the majority) expressed such Orientalist views. I know that most people who comment on these stories do so because they’re looking for controversy or to express a rather radical view, but I still was unprepared for some of the things I read. After skimming a few articles, I came across “'Heroic' Iran, 'resistive' Syria behind Sandy, pro-Assad group claims”- which I felt would have some interesting viewpoints. Even in the supposedly factual CNN article, there were tenants of Orientalism that could be traced. In essence, the article was about a pro-Syrian group that came out and declared that Sandy was due to “highly advanced technologies developed by the heroic Iranian regime that supports the resistance, with coordination of our resistive Syrian regime as punishment for whoever dares to attack Syria's (Bashar) al-Assad and threaten peace and stability." Yeah. It’s quotes like these and articles that exploit the voice of a few crazies that lead to such incorrect views of the MENA region in the West. Here are just a few of the comments from the first page (out of 30):
“Everything Islam has ever been involved in becomes a disaster, so they do have a point.”
“They said these people were nutjobs. I finally see it clearly now.”
“Middle eastern cultures have such a poetic way of displaying how beautifully intelligent, peaceful and advanced they are.”
“From camel and goat herders to secret impossible weather technology wow sure sounds like something out of the bible here LOL.”
One sane person:
“Shame on CNN for encouraging this anti-Muslim diatribe day in and day out, so that none of us can live in peace.”
Who was responded to by these lovely people:
“Your words are empty and false. The actions, or lack thereof by Muslims speaks a whole lot clearer to the world. Proof of the violence and the silence of approval by Muslim leaders, clergy and the masses.”
“To be fair, the religion of Islam IS one of murder and terrorism. Sure, maybe what it has become was not the intention of Mohammed or the original creators of Islam...but that begs the question: Is the original purpose relevant if it has become something unstoppable and evil?”
Needless to say, I didn’t bother clicking to the second page of comments. I found it absolutely ridiculous that so many people say or actually think these things, and I believe something needs to be done in order to educate the masses and help lessen this ludicrous ignorance.
Ah yes, the comments section...that's where all the loons come out. Wait, isn't this a comments section? Oh well, I guess there are exceptions! You're absolutely right that these are extreme examples of Orientalist discourse.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to remember though, that the true power of the discourse lies in that it presents itself as common knowledge - innocent looking 'facts' that we all toss around on a daily basis. The comments you cite are all easily identifiable as 'fringe' comments, but on a daily basis we see examples of Orientalist discourse, masking as neutral, objective fact. I haven't read the CNN article in question, but I don't doubt you're right that there were Orientalist tropes apparent throughout - it's usually the case with these kinds of sideshow stories that highlight some random group's outlandish statements.
By the way, other discourses work the same way - I'm sure a European (or perhaps distinctly Scandinavian) "discourse of Americanism" could be identified if anyone cared to look for it. For example, directly related to your example is the story on the American pastor who attributes Sandy to the gay rights movement, which was backed up by a rabbi shortly thereafter. According to their view, Sandy is God's way of punishing us for not oppressing the LGBT community enough. This feeds right into a very common discourse on the US found in my neck of the woods - Americans are generally crazy and seriously backwards in their thinking.
The difference, of course, is that while the discourse of Orientalism is capable (and has) done enormous damage, the Scandinavian discourse of Americanism is far more harmless, because the power relationship between the 'West' and the 'East' is vastly different than that of Scandinavia and the US. The Swedes don't have capabilities to invade the United States in order to enlighten you poor ignorant Americans, so don't worry too much about it. But I digress...
Remember that Said spoke of great artists and authors contributing to Orientalist discourse - he wasn't just talking about sinister racists spewing hate speech about the region. No, he was talking about people who sincerely sought to depict a region for which they may even have felt a high level of affection. The challenge for all of us is to identify these tropes in our own fundamental assumptions about the region we study.