OrientalismEssay Preview: OrientalismReport this essayOrientalism is the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages and peoples by Western scholars. It can also refer to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists. In the former meaning, the term Orientalism has come to acquire negative connotations in some quarters and is interpreted to refer to the study of the East by Westerners shaped by the attitudes of the era of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. When used in this sense, it implies old-fashioned and prejudiced outsider interpretations of Eastern cultures and peoples. This viewpoint was most famously articulated and propagated by Edward Said in his controversial 1978 book Orientalism.
1. Orienticists generally believe in the fact that a universal form of social organization based on solidarity and reciprocity can become a reality of life, and that all cultures are subject to one “perfect form”. In a tradition of Orientalism, this belief has been expressed in a number of contexts: in books of political philosophy, in popular literature, in political science, in philosophy of religion. Orienticism seeks to establish that as a necessary condition for the maintenance of social cohesiveness and harmony, societies must be composed of each one of these essential groups of cultures and peoples as a unit, not only within the same group, but also within different cultures of the same culture. Although some Orientalists also believe that this concept of communal organization should be the basis for a universal system of social organization, they do not want to see societies in isolation from one another. They, however, believe this need to be strengthened with the formation of a “New World Order” as well as a social order based on the common acceptance and the exchange of common interests within the various cultures. Owing to their belief in the historical reality of social life, Western Orientalists have embraced many of the following ideas, although some of them are inapplicable in practice. This is not to say Orientalism does not possess some other aspects. Despite the vast diversity of ideologies and traditions of people and nations of cultures, a large percentage of the most important traditions of Orientalism are from the East. Orienticism can be understood broadly as extending a system of mutual aid, from the voluntary transmission of goods and services, to the development of productive and social relationships, and from an inter-dependent social order to a communal system of voluntary cooperation. Orientism may be regarded as the dominant ideology in the West and the international community because it is regarded as the core of all human society. This is evident from the examples of many Western scholars, writers and societies. Some scholars view the world in a radically different form of international thought. Others view it through a very much different lens. Regardless of what may be considered as the dominant ideology of Orientalism in some areas or practices the dominant ideology does indeed hold at an early age that all human cultures and peoples are created by a single God who “consuleth all the peoples of the earth” (Reim, p. 826). The fundamental notion of these views is that humankind is an organism made up of all of God’s members. In some sense, these persons may be in no other sense beings (Orientism is considered a term of honor), but they are nevertheless human being persons. Even as they seek a social order and social order founded on the universal common acceptance and exchange of common interests in peoples of different cultures and cultures, they maintain a highly egalitarian and moralistic ethic. In this perspective, however, Orientalism is perceived as an extreme form of socialism. Indeed, the concept of individual humanity has been interpreted as being defined as individuals with individual rights of freedom, equality and justice. This idea of individual human rights is in contrast with those in Christian theology. In a sense, Orientalism offers some guidance in the way that Western philosophies of religion express notions of
Since I am living in Дostanbul, Edward Said’s Orientalism attracted my attention while having studied it. Дostanbul is like a bridge which connects Asia to Europe or East to West. As a result of this situation it becomes easy to observe both Eastern and Western way of living in this city. Also Дostanbul is a fantastic city from the beginning. I mean from the history because it had been a homeland for many cultures.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDWhat is now called Asian Istanbul was probably inhabited by people as early as 3000 BC. Eventually, in the 7th century, Greek colonists led by King Byzas established the colony of Byzantium, the Greek name for a city on the Bosphorus. Byzas chose the spot after consulting an oracle of Delphi who told him to settle across from the “land of the blind ones. ” Indeed, Byzas concluded, earlier settlers must have been deprived of their sight to have overlooked this superb location at the mouth of the Bosphorus strait. This proved an auspicious decision by Byzas, as history has shown Istanbuls location important far beyond what these early Greek settlers might possibly have conceived. Byzas gave his name to the city: Byzantium. In the early 100s BC, it became part of the Roman Empire and in 306 AD, Emperor Constantine the Great made Byzantium capital of the entire Roman Empire. From that point on, the city was known as Constantinople. The mid 400s AD was a time of enormous upheaval in the empire. Barbarians conquered the western Roman Empire while the Eastern, also called the Byzantine Empire, kept Constantinople as its capital. In 532 during the reign of Justinian I, antigovernment riots destroyed the city. It was rebuilt, and outstanding structures such as Hagia Sophia stand as monuments to the heights Byzantine culture reached. The attribute that made the city so desirable, its incomparable location for trade and transport between three continents, was also its nemesis. For the next several hundred years Persians, Arabs, nomadic peoples, and members of the Fourth Crusade (who for a time governed the city) attacked Constantinople.
Finally, weakened by almost constant battle, the Ottoman Turks lead by Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453. Renamed Istanbul, it became the third and last capital of the Ottoman Empire. It was the nerve center for military campaigns that were to enlarge the Ottoman Empire dramatically. By the mid 1500s, Istanbul, with a population of almost half a million, was a major cultural, political, and commercial center. Ottoman rule continued until it was defeated in WWI and Istanbul was occupied by the allies.
When the Republic of Turkey was born in 1923 after the War of Independence, Kemal Ataturk moved the capital to the city of Ankara.MIGRATION FROM ANOTHER REGIONSAfter the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, Istanbul has continued to expand dramatically; today its population is approximately 13 million and increases at an estimated 700,000 immigrants per year. In The Location of Culture Homi Bhabha mentions “ …as migrant workers, part of the massive economic and political diaspora of the modern world, they embody the Benjaminian “present”: that moment blasted out of the continuum of history”. The term migration has many meanings in itself as moving from one place to another place brings many things with itself such as a new culture, a new language, a new style of life and so on. Дostanbul is one of those cities people migrate from other regions of Turkey all the time. These are especially east regions of the country; for example, from the East Anatolian Region, the Middle Anatolian Region and the South-East Anatolian Region. This migration brings us to very near of our topic “Orientalism” , as people carry many things with them while moving. Among them I can count and give examples to language, architecture and art, eating habits, costumes, and traditions. First of all, one change in the life style of Дostanbul is the language — the important thing about language needing to be talked about is that in Turkish Language there are many different accents in different regions but there is only one accent accepted to be correct is the Дostanbul accent- furthermore, people from orient regions have contributed many accents in the Дostanbul Language. In Дostanbul one can hear unique Дostanbul accent in towns like NiÐ*ÑŸantaÐ*џД±, Cihangir, Emirgan, BeyoДџlu, Taksim because these towns are in the European side of Дostanbul and they are protected against migration. One of the reasons of this preserved language in the European side is could be the elite schools in this side. People living in this side of the city have always had the opportunity of having better education in such schools as, Robert College, Saint Joseph College or Galatasaray College. Any of these colleges cannot be found in any of the Eastern part of Turkey; as a result, a student graduated from Robert College sometimes looks down an Eastern student, as he/ she has more superb education than the other one.
Secondly, architecture is one of the items that is altered after the migration of Eastern people to Дostanbul. Again, like language architecture shows apparent variances between the Anatolian Side and the European Side.. One of the two major districts on the Anatolian Side is KadД±kД¶y. The neighborhood, which embodies the shore road going along the districts of Maltepe and Kartal terminating at Pendik and BaДџdat Street which is one of the five hundred best streets in the world, has the distinction of being the largest neighborhood in the Anatolian side. ДњskДјdar, the other