Orient

Susan Bright

Research Paper

Feburary 27, 2011

Edward Said was the first person responsible for introducing the idea of Orientalism. He said, “Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient-- dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.” (Said 3). There will be three texts in this paper dealing with the idea of orientalism: Mark Twain Innocents Abroad, Flaubert Flaubert in Egypt, and the film Lost in Translation. Each of these deal with a western culture representing the “other” as someone who is different and often lesser than the Westerner. The different approaches and observations will show through each one of these objects to give the reader an idea of how westerners depict other parts of the world.

Mark Twain was writing his accounts of Tangiers for a newspaper article. The purpose of his writings were intellectually based. In his letters he described in detail his observations about class, culture, society, traditions, art, and justice. His approach on journaling in Tangier was how a tourist today would experience another culture. Tangier at that time was a very foreign place to Westerners. He found things familiar and described them in their foreignness.

In his journal he described houses, what people wore and how he saw people treating each other in the culture. Most of his observations are based from things he learned from his studies. For example, when he is describing the ancient artifacts and ruins, he doesn't seek to learn more then what he has observed. Through Twain’s way of journalism one can find his approach very true to an oriental. He makes observations without a true understanding because he did not participate in the culture.

Unlike Mark Twains observations of Tangiers, Flaubert’s...