Reading Response 3 - Orientalism

The paragraph that catches my attention is the last one on page 20. After talking about Orientalism and the Oriental for most of his text, the writer finally explains what Orientalism means. In this paragraph, Said explains that Orientalism is made up of many things. He states that Orientalism is not merely a compilation of text about the Orient, nor is it a political subject demonstrated in culture and institutions. It is also not some wicked way for the Western world to degrade the Orient world. Said explains that Orientalism is a compilation of texts that dive into economy, sociology, history, and physiology. Orientalism is a way of thinking; it is a “modern-political intellectual culture.”

In conclusion, the author says that Orientalism has more to do, more things in common with the world in general than with the Orient itself. This text as a whole was very confusing to me. Before reading this part of the text, the author never stops to clearly explain what Orient and Orientalism means or what they mean to him and within his work. Weirdly, these explanations and definitions are put at such a late part of the introduction. At the same time, I appreciate that the writer lets us come up with our conclusions of what Orient and Orientalism mean before he defines these terms. I guess I could not agree nor disagree with Said’s arguments because I do not understand the text as much as I would need to to criticize it, but I like the idea of Orientalism being a way of thinking rather than be put in more specific terms. When Said explains how Orientalism is (distribution of geopolitical awareness), he implies that it is not something specific, but rather something broad that can be taken into different accounts “scholarly, economic, sociological, historical, and philosophical.” With this said, I agree with what Said says that Orientalism has to do more with the world in its totality than with the Orient specifically.

Art piece: Scene of the Jewish Quarter of Constantine (1851) - Theodore Chasseriau

This artwork is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). This painting shows two women standing side by side and a baby that seems to be sleeping on some kind of swing in between them. The artist painted this while exploring Algeria (which at the time was a French military Colony). It represents Orientalism as it describes how painters at the time usually painted Jewish women instead of Arab women because they did not wear veils, and they were easier to paint. It has to do a lot with the work by Edward Said that I analyze previously on the blog, as it clearly depicts the life in the Orient at the time, and also serves as an example of Imperialism (which the writer talks a lot about on his work) because of the fact that it was painted in Algeria, which was a French colony at the time Chasseriau painted this piece.