Is Orientalism a real thing? And if so, how can one study the history of Eastern countries without engaging in it?
>>1004760
>Is Orientalism a real thing?
A "thing"?
>>1004769
A thing. A thing that is a thing
>>1004760
most of IRL /his/torians become "muh-study-subject"aboo so its no rare thing to find books of asian cultures written with bulshitic bias.
Its really difficult to be truly neutral (not in pro nor in con) on your studies since if you start to hate your subject, you usually drop it and if you dont get too engaged to it you would usually just scrape the surface.
So Yes, orientalism is real specially among those people who have to face those cultures day by day. Funny thing, westaboos also exist
>>1004760
Most definitely. Edward Said is the one most commonly associated with the origin of the term, and his premise was that Western (Occidental) culture fetishized the aspects of Eastern (Oriental) culture as an instantiation of the binary opposition that occurs linguistically. Culturally, Orientalism was first enacted on the Middle East after the completion of its colonialism by European forces, and can be seen in literature as early as the 18th century, with authors commonly equating cultural aspects of the Middle East with "exotic" qualities, and retelling the "mystical" tales of Arabic scholars in English. Interestingly, the trend mirrors the way in which Christianity, a Middle Eastern religion, was adopted and claimed by Western culture. Orientalism shifted toward the Far-East during the 20th century, as post-colonial recognition of the west's transgressions of history created a spiritual aporia to be filled by the fetishization of Eastern religions (note especially the neo-Buddhism present in Beatnik culture, brought over in large part by D.T. Suzuki). You can counteract Orientalism by a) recognizing that it exists; b) actively questioning the historical authenticity of sources; c) double-checking the authenticity of translations of asian (including middle-eastern) texts; and d) not participating in the stereotyping of Eastern cultures and people.
Good question, anon!
>>1005268
But I can still say I enjoy the study of Chinese history and culture, right?
I'm trying not to romanticize it, just say that I've learned a lot.
>>1005289
Yeah, of course.
Different anon here, but the thing about Orientalism is that it uses "the orient" as an emotional canvas for the observer. I mean, obviously the study of any subject fills emotional needs of the person studying it, but the orientalist treats 'the orient' as an other, and the other is define by how it's not like 'us'.
Consider the trope of 19th century orientalists: That Islam was wonderful because of how much the middle east loved sex. Because they were so sexually open and free compared to 'the west'.
That's something that goes completely against the image we have of Islam now. Now the 'otherness' tends to cut the other way. But the point is that the reality of Islam was neither here nor there. 19th Century orientalists were just projecting '>twf no harem of qt brown girls' onto their understanding of Islamic culture, art and philosophy.
>>1005289
Of course you can, and without apology. Where it becomes Orientalism is when you place unrealistic claims on Chinese history and culture because in the service of placing them on some sort of pedestal, or framing Chinese history and culture only in terms of its opposition to the West.
Or if you get a Chinese character tattooed on you because "they're soooo deep." Lulz.
Or if you quote "Confucius" without recognizing that he was actually named Con-Fu-Tzu, and never actually said a whole bunch of the shit that Westerners put his name on. Confucius is sort of a case-study in Orientalism, actually.
>>1005308
^^^ Yes so much to this ^^^
>>1005337
It's nice to know that I'm not committing Orientalism then.
Now off to get a mail order bride
>>1004760
Yes, it is a thing, you can avoid it by reminding yourself that the West is the best.
>>1005365
