Jen -- Islam Media and the West

Jennifer Hernandez
Helga Tawil-Souri
ILA: Islam, Media, and the West
8 October 2008

Orientalism, Orient, Oriēns

The word “orient” originates from the Latin oriēns, meaning “rising sun, east” (The American Heritage). As a noun, “orient” defines “the countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia”. As an adjective it describes, in several cases, jewelry, as “having exceptional luster”, and as a transitive verb (while there are several definitions provided) it means, “to align or position with respect to a point or system of reference”, “to determine the bearings of” and “to make familiar with or adjusted to facts, principles, or a situation” (The American Heritage). The term Orientalism is “a quality, mannerism, or custom specific to or characteristic of the Orient” or is the “scholarly knowledge of Asian cultures, languages, and peoples” (The American Heritage). The root refers to the rising of the sun occurring in the east so it is clear how it could come to define the east and stand for a particular direction and descriptor of location. However, as I repeat these definitions I begin to see the correlation between how the ‘East’, this “Orient”, has been constructed and continues to be perceived to this day.

In 1978, scholar Edward Said sparked controversy with his book, Orientalism, In Said’s interpretation, Orientalism is the lens employed by the ‘West’ to define, identify, and subjugate the ‘East’. It is a construction used “as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient” (Said, Orientalism, 3). With the 'clash of civilizations' argument coming from all sides of the spectrum and figuring prominently in public discourse, and as one for whom the 'clash' argument does not resonate, Said’s critique of Orientalism opens a new way to view how the clash argument has been formulated. In my opinion Orientalism, as defined by Said and as a social construct has played a crucial role in the formulation of not only this idea of a 'clash of civilizations' but also in the present misconceptions and misrepresentations of the ‘East’ in Western media.

History is the story as told by the one who triumphed and conquered. It dictates how societies and events have occurred and much of history is presented as a documentation and form of objective representation. Said argues, “history is made by men and women, just as it can also be unmade and rewritten, always with various silences and elisions” (Said, Orientalism, xviii). It reminds me of the study of the American and Mexican War of 1846-1848, in which author Kenneth C. Davis describes as a “war fought unapologetically for territorial expansion” (188). When I was in grade school this war and the true significance of The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were overshadowed by the praise and achievement of American Manifest Destiny. As a young Chicana to read these portrayals of aggressive Mexicans standing in the way of the American Manifest Destiny and to learn that America “reclaimed” the land is an example of how certain historical perspectives can have an influence on one’s own perception of identity and the perpetuations of stereotypes. In American history, there are groups that are characterized and described in a certain matter along with very little to no acknowledgment of the "Others’"perspective. While history may not be the only driving force of this lens of viewing the “Other” it definitely sets the tone for forming generalizations.

Which brings me to discuss culture. Culture is tricky in that it cannot be simply defined because it consists of various interpretations and elements. Culture can be recognized as race, origin, nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political orientation, education, interests – all these play a part in building a cultural identity. What happens when people of the ‘East’ reside and are a part of the ‘West’? Toufic El Rassi’s graphic novel/memoir, Arab In America, tells his story of being the “Other” residing in America post September 11th. Despite the fact that he moved to America when he was two his appearance made him a subject of discrimination. While my case no where near reaches the extent of the racial profiling El Rassi and other Arabs in America have faced, the experiences he provides show how millions of “Others” struggle with their formation of identity. El Rassi makes the claim “everything Americans know about Arabs is almost always filtered through the eyes of a white American” (112). The policy leaders, those reporting on the events of the Middle East and the pop cultural representations of Arabs and Muslims have perpetuated these stereotypes and in a sense dehumanized the “Other” by portraying this group as the enemy and against America. El Rassi makes this statement:

“I felt like I had no voice to speak for myself, instead I had to listen while others spoke for me and it was always people who didn’t know what they were talking about.” (112)

I found this statement to be an example of the continuing effects of Orientalism, in that the West is continuing to silence these “Other” voices. There is strength in the media messages delivered from the political arena that are influencing perceptions and formations of identity.

That is not to say that it is entirely the fault of the media. El Rassi and Jack Shaheen have very strong views on the power and influence of contemporary media on the general public. Jack Shaheen conducted a study where he surveyed the negative portrayals of Arabs in over 900 Hollywood films (172). Shaheen found a constant repetition of “slanderous stereotypes” and argues how these have an influence on “honest discourse and public policy” (172). What makes this argument difficult is that in media studies it is not safe to assume that the audience is passive, media representations are not the sole factor in perpetuating discriminatory generalizations. However Shaheen does bring in an interesting angle in the correlation political impacts may have on these media stereotypes. If audiences are constantly learning about terrorist attacks on the nightly news and hearing political leaders talk about the distant “Middle East” and then seeing these villains on the entertainment screen the repetition and redundancy have an effect on the audience. In my opinion, I do not think audiences are so passive in receiving everything they see on screen, however many of these representations come from Orientalist constructs that exist in various forms and are not limited to solely media. The constant portrayal of a certain “Arab”, a certain “Muslim” or even the lumping of “Arab/Islam/Muslim/Middle Easterner” as one category stems from Orientalism.

El Rassi and Shaheen do not agree with the portrayal of Arabs in the United States and so the question is: What do Americans really know about the ‘Middle East’? In Covering Islam, Edward Said calls for one to engage the “skills of a good critical reader” (lix). Through this piece I felt it was important that Said noted how these labels (Islam, West, East, etc) used in our discourse are in no way “objective” the truth in the information “is relative to who produces it” (Covering Islam, lviii). Policy makers and scholars of Islam in America have had very little contact with the ‘East’ and much of their work is tied to specific political policies (Said, Covering Islam, 18-19). They are the supposed to be the ones with knowledge, informing Americans about Islam, about the ‘East’ but if they are from it than the people receiving the information are even farther. Said stresses the power of knowledge and “knowledge is interpretation” and what is crucial is in what form that interpretation takes on (Covering Islam, 172).

I agree with Said, the 'Clash of Civilizations', whether coming from the ‘West’ or the ‘East’, does not have to portray itself as “unending, implacable, irremediable” (Orientalism, xviii). In my opinion Said’s interpretation of Orientalism speaks to the supposed 'clash of civilizations'. It provides the reasoning of how such an argument of a 'clash' is structured, formed, and then perpetuated over and over again. Said highlights how Orientalism roots in history and branches into the present and in that case he calls for the reader to actively involve themselves with the information and determine the source, their interests and where they are receiving such information. The way these “civilizations” are defined and characterized are not appropriate representations and of course conflict will ensue when each side thinks it knows the other and is constantly defensive.

“There is, after all, a profound difference between the will to understand for purposes of coexistence and humanistic enlargement of horizons, and the will to dominate for the purposes of control and external enlargement of horizons, and the will to dominate for the purposes of control and external dominion” (Said, Orientalism, xix).

It is interesting to see these various examples of Orientalism fit the definition of the term “Orient”. The Orient was created to emanate “exceptional luster” in the Western Hemisphere and people of the ‘East’ have been scrutinized for their bearings. To this day the ‘West’ has in various ways approached Islam and the customs of the people in the Middle East and Orient and tried to align them and position them “with respect to a point or system of reference” that system being the 'West' itself. Historically, culturally, and politically the ‘West’ has exercised their means making sure the ‘East” is “familiar with or adjusted to facts, principles, or a situation”. The 'clash of civilizations' argument consists of those "facts" and has outlined the principles to be followed within the situation currently present in the global sphere.

Works Cited

"orient." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 07 Oct. 2008. .

"orientalism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 07 Oct. 2008. .

Davis, Kenneth C. Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History But Never Learned. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2003.

El Rassi, Toufic. Arab in America. San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2007.

Said, Edward W. Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World. New York: Vintage Books, 1997.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1995.

Shaheen, Jack G. “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 588 (Jul., 2003): 171-193.

Last night I found this video and while it infuriates me on various levels, I will limit my discussion to the comments relevant to this blog and course.

This video is from Al Jazeera English and takes place at a rally Sarah Palin recently held in a small, white, working-class, Eastern Ohio community. Here are just a few misconceptions about Obama:

0:18 - Woman expresses her fears if Obama wins. Her first fear is that "the black will take over" and at 0:18 she shrieks:

"He's not a Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"

I think the first part of her comment, is currently being questioned and that is yes he is a Christian but what should it matter if he wasn't. And to declare the US a Christian nation, ugh! The last part is what gets me, it's as if Obama were a Muslim and came into power and were to institute Islamic law. She definitely views him and Muslims as the 'other' this unknown group. If you analyze what she says, pretty much it is that if a person who is not Christian but a Muslim (or in this case can be identified as such) they will overturn the nation, it will be anti-American. In just these few seconds this woman brought up so many misconceptions, assumptions, and stereotypes.

0:56 - This woman says her concern is "the Muslim thing" According to her "a lot of people forgot about 9/11 but I don't know it's a little unnerving"

If we were to reason with her statement pretty much she is unsure if he is a Muslim and Muslims had a part in 9/11. This made me think of our discussion today about the Iraq War and how many people affiliate 9/11, Iraq, and Osama bin Laden as connected with one another and because of these lumped associations (which aren't even true) people like this lady start to believe that because of 9/11 one should be unsure of Muslims. It's absurd.

1:34 - At this point of the video a group of guys are campaigning for Obama/Biden as people heading to the Palin rally drive by. According to the guy the names he has been called include the "n-word, Muslim, un-American" The n-word is a historically derogatory term and un-American is an insult because one should be proud to be American and it upsets me that "Muslim" is thrown in with these other terms. Muslim is being used negatively, like a slur and insult and it is absolutely none of these things. It defines one who practices Islam, a religion.

I'm going to back track a bit to 1:12 where another rally participant states she does not like that Obama thinks "us white people are trash, because we're not!" I'm not going to lie after I heard that I had to laugh. She obviously does not like being lumped into a category, doesn't want people that do not know her community to make assumptions (I could list them but I think it would be best to keep those terms to myself) but it's okay to do it to others. After seeing this video, and reflecting on everything I have written I know that I cannot assume that everyone from this area, or those small pockets of America are made up of such hateful individuals. Obviously as we can see from this video, yes these crazies exist, but I know I have to be fair and not assume or type people according to what I have seen here. If I met a white person from this community in East Ohio tomorrow, it would be unfair to immediately identify them with the people in this video. That is the danger of these stereotypes and assumptions people make, it's just a never-ending cycle. It's...ugh...I don't know what else to say...

Here's an op-ed piece from the NY Times, thought it was something to share.

Now that articles have appeared posing/exploring the "Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country" question, I'm interested to see if it will develop further or continue after the election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/opinion/22dowd.html?em

Hawthorne is a city located in the South Bay of Los Angeles County. We are 5 miles south of LAX, a 10 minute drive to the beach and (on a good day) you can be in Downtown LA in 30 minutes.

The Beach Boys grew up in Hawthorne, they attended my middle school and high school, but the neighborhood has definitely changed since those days.

I don't think Hawthorne is a "bad" neighborhood but there have been events that have put Hawthorne in a negative light (bad schools, violence, drugs). Depending on who you speak with, people from affluent areas see Hawthorne as the "ghetto", while people from the actual hood see Hawthorne as a nice neighborhood.
I definitely see the influence of both because geographically Hawthorne is located between two such areas. I do see divides within Hawthorne according to the main boulevards and avenues. To the west the houses are larger, the neighborhoods in that general area are quieter. While there are certain areas of eastern Hawthorne where you shouldn't be after a certain time of night.

Overall the city is filled with middle-class families, racially it has a larger Latino and African American population than Whites, but overall is a pretty diverse mix.
I definitely think the separation is between the various economic classes that reside in Hawthorne more than race. I still think race plays somewhat of a part but mainly people associate with others that live in their part of the neighborhood. People in the area can usually tell which part of Hawthorne you come from based on your lifestyle and exterior appearance. I can use myself as an example, I grew up in the Wiseburn area, which has been deemed the "white" area. My high school was predominantly Latino and even though I am half Mexican - half Salvadorean, my peers would tease me because I "talked white", acted "white", and dressed "white".

“It is not an objective work if by objectivity we take the American approach which lets each side have its say and doesn’t mind if reality is not revealed. My idea was not to present an objective book but an honest one.” –Joe Sacco on Palestine, ix

All of us in this class are privileged and fortunate to be able to pursue the opportunities that have opened up for our taking. We all come from different walks of life and have our different views and experiences. Very soon, we each are going to pursue our future endeavors, and whatever that may consist of, should our work be characterized as not truly representative of America, as not many Americans can say they have a Bachelor’s from NYU and reside in New York City?

In reading these works about Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq, I thought to myself, how can I assess these works appropriately? I have never resided or even traveled to any of these locations. I have never experienced a revolution or a war first-hand. All of the works we read in this unit I felt were works of art in their own respect. They were all forms of expression and personal accounts speaking amidst the backdrop of war, violence, and fear. I took these texts for what they were, as expressions and explorations of identity, for humanizing the people that live among the sensational and salient images that we see everyday in which we feel like we “know” or are familiar with. In Memory for Forgetfulness, Mahmoud Darwish clearly states that his work, “stands on its own as a work of art, and should be read as such” (3). While these works are not perfect, in their portrayal of the respective setting, or the people involved, or historical fact, they do challenge what it means to represent the Middle East.

As a whole, do I find these portrayals as Orientalist? No.
Orientalism is a lens that has been used by the West in portraying, identifying and depicting the “Other”. So would a work have to be completely void of Western influence to not be an Orientalist portrayal? In a way, if we were to imagine a text or work void of these “Western” influences then I think that would make the piece even more Orientalist. For example, if jeans and t-shirts are “Western” and the work portrayed people that lacked jeans and t-shirts I would view that work as forming an Oriental and ideal construction. Maybe I am getting a little too philosophical, but the point I want to get across is that even when we bring up the point of trying to determine or find if these pieces are Orientalist, calls to attention what few examples of literature or voices from people all over the world. In many situations it has been Western forces breaking stories or commenting on certain situations. Shouldn’t we celebrate the various texts, viewpoints and voices these authors are presenting? In a way by continuing to pick out the “Western” influences we are furthering the use of Western attributes as the standard for which everything else should be measured against.

In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, she acknowledges that her family is not the typical conservative Iranian family. Through her story we see that her parents constantly communicate with her and as a precocious young child very few subjects were taboo. She goes off to school in Vienna, once the war in Iran intensifies and her family is not religious. Many will argue that these elements hint at a Western influence, but I would think the opposite. Not all Western or American families have the type of relationship Satrapi has with her parents, many Westerners cannot send their child off to school or are active agents in political demonstrations. I think this comes from economic and educational differences and they are not entirely because of culture or religion. We started to talk about this on Monday but lately I had been noticing the connection that the “Western” practices or accessories or ideas these authors have may have to do with their education and social and economic status. That can be said of America as well, not everyone living in the US has access to an expensive car, a private school education, or a housekeeper. Getting back to Satrapi, her story is definitely about her personal growth and discovery. In the situations where she explores her identity and loses her sense of belonging in Iran, I as a reader see a human struggling with circumstances out of her control. It really is a humanistic approach to revealing and reminding the effects of war and political conflict.

In the case of Joe Sacco’s Palestine, he is honest in revealing his purpose for being in Palestine, on page 59, he states that he wants to talk to people and hear their stories. He and his companion Saburo paid 89 shekels for the experience to get right into the field and have these encounters. “But we want faces, we want pain, we want to rub against people who’ve had the shit kicked out of them… [At least I do, […] (Sacco 59). A huge criticism about Sacco is that he is a Westerner observing the Palestinians, but I think even Sacco acknowledges he is pursuing a different type of project unlike journalists. His comic has this way of detailing his experience of Palestine and mocking the reporting that occurs in Palestine. For me, Sacco’s piece like Satrapi’s is one of discovery. It is personal and upfront, in his reflections he clearly states that his present work has definitely changed from the time he worked on Palestine, “My work has become more self-conscious. I am more aware of what I am doing. I am not as loose.” (Sacco, ix). It is an account from that specific time, through his eyes. I do not think Sacco’s Palestine is a definite and absolute truth of that time, but it does challenge the other portrayals that are predominantly through an Israeli viewpoint.

I found these works to also challenge the “Clash of Civilizations” argument. When looking into the conflicts that exist in countries all over the world, many of the issues are from within. Areas cannot be lumped together just because they are located next to one another, or the people appear to resemble each other. Salam Pax is a great example of showing how he is not the typical Iraqi “[…] neither I nor Raed are ‘regular Joes’. […] The regular Joe would be more inclined to beat the shit out of us infidels.” (27). Pax in his blog, which was originally designated as a way to keep a friend living outside of Iraq updated, is a strong example of humanizing the effects of the Iraq War. I think it also gives some insight, especially in that Pax’s resistance to the US is not because he supports Saddam’s regime but rather because of the repercussions the war will bring and because of the war and violence on his country. He adds a sense of humanity, and asks why must people die in order to achieve this “goal” of democracy. In one entry he writes, “the ‘You-started-it’ argument will get us nowhere – it goes round and round.” (Pax 39). I found that quote as a great statement against the “Clash” argument. Because there are times when discussing this apparent “Clash” and it sees to go around and around and in the end, which side is right and which side is in the wrong. The argument just asks for a tumultuous collision to settle with one victor.

Lebanon experienced an intense and violent civil war, one that Mazen Kerbaj grew up in and outlined in his short comic, "A Happy Childhood". In reading Kerbaj’s account, the sketching and dialogue reminded me of the video games I played when I was younger. In thinking about video games I think of how many parents, especially in the West advocate against the violence in video games and that certain ones should be deemed unsuitable for children’s eyes because of their graphic nature. Then here is Kerbaj who is living and breathing violence in his backyard. While children in Maine throw a plastic grenade during play-time, Kerbaj is playing with a detonated grenade he purchased. The reason why I bring this up is because, what kind of effect of would this have on a child. If your childhood consists of dodging missiles, training for combat and identifying enemies it has to hold a strong influence on one’s development and identity as an adult. From this example, it is important to note that many of the conflicts in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East, cannot be simply explained. They involve various interests and cover several issues and it is important that we do not keep labeling or generalizing conflicts as Muslims vs. Christians or Arabs vs. Jews, it is not always the case.

The one thing to extrapolate from these works is the humanizing effect each has done to their respective setting. Each author has creatively expressed him or herself and shown how their experiences have shaped their perception and identity. I think each has effectively found a way to open up the representations of people of the Middle East and remind their audiences of humanity. While these pieces do exercise Western media and may possibly be targeted towards Western audiences, that may be a positive thing because the various subjects and events are just paper to many, but this way tells a humanizing account.

There is a danger in stereotyping these works and saying that they are true representations of their respective areas. I also see it as a danger to completely disregard the accounts as representative of their subject areas. Each in their own way has effectively provided an insight into places I have never been. Like any form of media it is up to the audience to analyze and interpret the work for what it is. I feel each author is an artist that has chosen a media to express their insight of the Iranian Revolution, the Palestinian territories, the Lebanese Civil War, and the Iraq War. I found it interesting to read these because of the stories that were told and experiences that were shared. I think if anything these works are encouraging to explore more texts from different artists and writers and people from not only the Middle East but globally. Also, these works challenge what should represent an Iranian, Palestine, the Lebanese, and an Iraqi. In not one culture, civilization, country, city, or even within the same household(!) will all members be exactly the same, there are conformists, dissenters, activists, fundamentalists, etc. in each of these communities. I hope that works and artists like the ones discussed here continue and maybe then will we stop thinking, “Wow! They’re just like us!” and they can provide an arena for us to explore what makes up the cultures of different parts of the world and within different parts of various countries. I may not be a typical American, for what I believe in or stand for economically, politically, and socially, but that does not make me any less of an American. Just like we dislike when people make assumptions about where we come from or what we know should teach us to avoid the same traps when learning about somewhere new.

“No coffee is like another. Every house has its coffee, and every hand too, because no soul is like another.” (Darwish, 20)

Works Cited

Darwish, Mahmoud. Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982. Trans. Ibrahim Muhawi. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

Kerbaj, Mazen. “A Happy Childhood”. Words Without Borders. The Online Magazine for International Literature. Trans. Edward Gauvin. 2008.

Pax, Salam. Salam Pax: The Clandestine Diary of an Ordinary Iraqi. New York: Grove Press, 2003.

Sacco, Joe. Palestine The Special Edition. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books Inc., 2007.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of A Childhood. New York: Pantheon Books, 2003.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. New York: Pantheon Books, 2003.