The Orientalist Discourse in Western Production and Politics

Written by Ellie Giraudon.

Posted at youthlaw.co.uk…

While as a society we may be less consciously prejudiced, the overarching orientalist discourse is still salient, especially since 2001. There exist three areas of cultural and intellectual production in which stereotypes of the ‘Arab’ and the ‘Orient’ world continue to persist: film and Hollywood representations of the ‘Orient’; media representations of Islam; and political discourse. While orientalism permeates many more cultural and intellectual productions within society, I have decided to explore these examples as they remain prevalent and important in shaping perceptions of the ‘Arab’ and ‘Orient’ today.

Film and Hollywood Representations of the ‘Orient’

In 1978 Said described the depiction of the Arab in films as being ‘associated either with lechery or bloodthirsty dishonesty’ (1978; 286), a depiction which has not changed. In film, images of the ‘Arab’ and ‘Orient’ follow a stereotypical representation as the cultural other; ‘brute murderers, sleazy rapists, religious fanatics’ (Shaheen; 2003; 72). Western film plots, especially Hollywood productions, centre on ‘an American hero and a foreign villain’ (Vanhala; 2014; 3). The central characters get most screen time and the villain’s purpose is ‘to disturb the social and moral order and present the heroes with problems to solve’ (Coskun; 2012; 43). Post-9/11 interest in these themes led to mass production of films centring on the Arab antagonist, associating them with barbaric acts. This mass depiction has contributed hugely to growing prejudice against Arabs in the United Kingdom and America. By way of example, in the film ‘The Kingdom’ (2007), an Arab terrorist obliges his young son to watch a suicide bombing, and Arabs brutally kill Americans and murder a man in front of his son (Alalawi; 2015).

Nashef attests that it is not only the portrayal of the ‘Arab’ in Western films that is prejudiced, but also the depiction of Arabic countries. He describes them as ‘unidentified masses of scorching deserts’, training people to ‘expect that evil people and deeds linger in the Arabian Desert’ (2012; 199–201). The desert’s heat, with its ‘inhospitable terrain’ and vastness, is directly ‘opposed to the green pastures and forests of most of Western Europe’ (2012; 199). The film ‘The Siege’ (1998) depicts exactly this; American military barracks contrasted against the desert setting, in which the Saudi desert’s inhabitants are depicted as ‘speaking roughly, dressing roughly, and displaying the qualities of what is seen as the opposite of civilization’ (Nashef; 2012; 205). Nashef has however stated that the films ‘Syriana’ (2005) and ‘The City of Life’ (2009) have broken away from the stereotypically ‘Arab’ portrayal to create more complex characters. Furthermore, ‘The City of Life’ depicts Dubai as ‘vibrant with life’, where the desert ‘can be seen as a place for socializing or a haven for self-reflection’. The desert is ‘welcoming’ (Nashef; 2012; 203). This suggests that, while the majority of Western films depict the ‘Arab’ and ‘Orient’ through an Orientalist discourse, others have been, and perhaps will continue to be, produced focusing on a more realistic representation of the ‘Arab’. While this is a positive step towards depicting a more realistic view of the ‘Orient’ and those inhabiting it, writers have historically, and continue to, portray the Arab as backward, politically illegitimate, and morally bankrupt (Christison; 1987; 397). This overarching orientalist narrative still pervades Western film production through the ‘othering’ of the ‘Arab’ and the ‘Orient’. This reflects and structures prejudicial perceptions and politics today, a trend which has become even more prominent since 9/11.

Media Representations of Islam

In addition to film and Hollywood production, the media is another area in which the cultural production of images of the ‘Arab’ and the ‘Orient’ in the West continues to structure prejudicial perceptions and politics. Said suggested that Muslims tended to be portrayed in the Western media as uncultured and barbaric (1978), a noticeable problem today. The manner in which Islam and Muslims in the British press have been characterized, as being an ‘alien other’ (Saeed; 2007), has persisted over the past decades. Following 9/11 and the war on terror, this discourse has been amplified further. Results from one survey taken by 343 non-Muslims showed a positive correlation between media as a main source of information and negative views associated with Muslims and Islam (Ahmed; 2012). Furthermore, media in America framed 9/11 ‘within the context of Islam, of cultural conflicts, and of Western civilization threatened by the other’ (Abrahamian; 2003; 531). Analysis of actual content within the media revealed a predominant narrative of negative, as opposed to positive, sentiment towards Muslims (Ahmed; 2012). Another analysis of the representations of Muslims and Islam in the media suggested that studies predominantly investigated themes of ‘migration’, ‘terror’ and war’, while Islam is characterised as a ‘violent religion’. Again, the media continues to represent Islam as a ‘monolithic, homogenized or sexist religion’, and Muslims as ‘heartless, brutal, uncivilized, religious fanatics’ (Ahmed; 2017; 222). Others have argued that the heterogeneity of Islam is ignored, and rather Islamic culture is simplified and stigmatized as problematic.

The subsequent securitization of Islam and immigration post-9/11 was arguably legitimized, partly, as a result of the prominent orientalist discourse in the media. Messina stated that 9/11 ‘accelerated the process of securitizing immigration in Europe and the United States’, as mainstream political parties ‘rhetorically linked domestic terror related incidents to mass immigration and immigrant settlement’ (2014; 533; 566) and ‘the conflation of Islam with political violence’ (Cesari; 2013; 83). The securitization of Islam was only possible through the prejudicial narrative within politics, reported and highlighted by the media, which often equated ‘Arabs’ and the ‘Orient’ with terrorist activity and religious fanaticism. This illuminates the manner in which the ‘Arab’ and the ‘Orient’, especially post-9/11, has been portrayed in terms of ‘terrorist’ and ‘extremist’ in the media. This is indicative of the way in which Said’s claims about the negative effect of this ‘Orientalist’ discourse are still prevalent today, hugely impacting Western perceptions of both Islam and the ‘Arab’.

Political Discourse

This negative narrative has been further pushed through political discourse. This othering of the ‘Orient’, as Said argued (in film, media and political discourse), works to help ‘define Europe (the West) as its contrasting image’ (1978; 2) by ‘identifying ‘us’, Europeans, as against all ‘those’ non-Europeans’ (1978; 7). This form of rhetoric has been prevalent in political discourse both in America and Britain, becoming significantly more prominent post-9/11. The production of this kind of knowledge, i.e. the orientalist discourse in film, media and politics, sustains, as Campbell argues, existing power relations. As experts speak of terrorism, this discourse, portrayed as objective, becomes the legitimation of the repressive system against the Middle East. The othering of the ‘Orient’ and portrayal of the ‘Arab’ as dangerous sets the ‘boundaries of legitimate social and political action’ (1992; 63), which can be seen both in the securitization of Islam and immigration, as well as in the military action taken after 9/11.

Political actors presented Islam as ‘an existential threat to European and American political and secular order’ (Cesari; 2013; 83), a discourse most prominent during the Bush administration, wherein one saw a return to the narrative of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ (Kumar; 2010) — in this Bush asserted that ‘either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists’ (Zehfuss; 2003; 48). Zehfuss argues that the attack was framed and felt to be ‘one on Western values and civilisation’ (2003; 519), as 9/11 was described as an act of war. This then provided a legitimate basis for the USA’s military response (Zehfuss; 2003). Said argued that these prejudicial views of the ‘Arab’ and ‘Orient’ create the narrative that the Orient is ‘something either to be feared or to be controlled (by pacification, research and development, and outright occupation whenever possible)’ (1978; 301). The war on terror was presented as a defence of ‘traditional values and institutions of the nation-state’ against a threat in an attempt to ‘force a regression within the international system to an older more reliable form of order’. This strategy has subsequently been criticised as being a ‘traditional form of imperialism’ (Reid; 2005; 242). As Said argued, this portrayal of the ‘Arabs’ and the ‘Orient’ in the West still structures prejudicial perceptions and politics today, and has ultimately allowed for the West to legitimize its continued domination and control over the Orient through military means.

I have discussed and explored three areas of cultural production I believe suggest that the ‘Orientalist’ discourse is still prevalent today — this discourse works to structure prejudicial perceptions and politics. This is even more valid post-9/11, where the orientalist narrative in film, media, and political discourse equates Islam and Arabs with terrorism. This has been presented through the portrayal of Arabs in Western film production as dangerous terrorists and religious fanatics. This analysis continued to the media, wherein Islam has been demonized as a violent religion, and as such a predominately negative narrative is expressed when reporting on Muslims and the Middle East. Finally, these representations in film and media, as well as political discourse post-9/11 focusing on identifying between an ‘us’ (the civilised West) and ‘them’ (the savage Orient), allows for the West, as Said stated, to maintain control over the Orient.

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