Orientalism: We Are All Guilty

         To begin, I would like to say that I am extremely excited for this course and I feel that through reading the syllabus a majority of the classes I have taken over the past two and half years have truly managed to leave out the overlying concepts that this one hopes to achieve.  Whereas in the past each class aims to focus on one specific part of the world encompassing simply the concepts of that area, this class seems to include it all.  Which is why I am so excited to finally get a new perspective on it all!  What strikes me the most, is the fact that not only do we get the opportunity to look at texts from a variety of different cultures, but we get to compare and contrast how each of these cultures perceive one another.

            Having said that, upon watching Edward Said’s videos, I began to get a brief understanding as to what the issue of Said’s work on the literary theory of Orientalism is truly about.  It became extremely apparent to me how his work on Orientalism has brought about a decent amount of criticism given that this theory aims to understand the origin of preconceived notions.  I found it interesting that the ultimate question Orientalism asks is a highly motivated one exceeding all innocence, and something we are guilty of on a daily basis.  Our view of what we think the west is essentially like, is completely tainted due to the lens we have been driven through our own culture to look through.  I was really impressed with Said’s motivation to dig further into the idea of Orientalism, due to the fact that he personally identified with this growing issue.  In addition to this, I found it amazing that I can honestly say I have never come across this theory before.  I have incorporated the colonialist theory and few others in other English Literature classes, however this is one I have yet to discover.  Upon watching the videos, I realized that this theory is one that dates back to the period of imperial conquest; my mind has been blown.  For centuries people have been driven to make conclusions about different areas of the world and different groups of people, simply due to the media and through word of mouth.  We are so quick to judge, when in fact we have no right to be.  As I mentioned before I really find Said’s work to be sincere and powerful due to the fact that he is personally tied into this issue.  I feel that this adds another layer of perspective to the theory because Said can truly relate to it, and I am sure that a majority of those who study his work can relate in some way as well.  I am really excited to unpack further into the issues of this course, and cannot wait to fully understand all that the theory of Orientalism has to offer!