Said Orientalism
"I have begun with the assumption that the Orient is not an inert fact of nature. It is not merely there, just as the Occident itself is not just there either: We must take seriously Vico's great observation that men make their own history, that what they can know is what they have made, and extend it to geography: as both geographical and cultural entities-such locales, regions geographical sectors as "Orient" and "Occident" are men-made. Therefore as much as the West itself, the Orient is an idea that has a history and a tradition of thought, imagery and vocabulary that have given it reality and presence in and for the West. The two geographical entities thus support and to an extent reflect each other."
In this excerpt, Said is basically saying that Orient is not something that appears natural. It is the same with Western that it is constructed out of history. It is real historically and geographically and has been built by real people. And the word Orient is ideal, just like Occident is. The word contains rich history and culture within, and the difference between them creates a contradictory phenomenon. Therefore, Orient and Occident is reflective of each other to a certain extent.
This excerpt is located at the beginning of part II in the introduction. His criticize started with the assumption that ‘Orient is realistic.’ This paragraph introduces his later claim that the Orient's construction is mostly filtered and becomes the Orient that the westerns want it to be. I agree with him that Orient is historically abundant. Occident and Orient are opposite but corresponds at the same time. I think people accept this. They know the exact difference between the two, which is why they believe they know Orient enough to rebuild a complete Orient structure in their work of art. In other words, the ‘authority’ Said stated later in his text is understandable. This authority exists because people construct an Orient with their understanding and cannot be doubted from their perspective. I think it is interesting Said defining Orientalism intellectually, that he insinuated this whole Orientalism is totally different from the Orient.
This artwork I chose is by Eugène Delacroix, A French artist, created in 1834. The painting portrays a scene in a room, it is evident that the room is Persian style, and the women in the painting are wearing Persian style clothes that seem like made of silk. The luminous color of the artwork, dominant in yellow and red. However, the faces of the women are not what we expect as “orient.” Therefore, the overall painting is a mixture of understanding by the painter. This painting later influenced many other artists. Just like what Said stated in the text: “Every writer on the Orient (in this case artists) assumes some Oriental precedent, some previous knowledge of the Orient, to which he refers and on which he relies.”
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