Orientalism

Jessica Langsdon

Professor Moscowitz

CC 101: Identity and Community

17 October 2006

Orientalism

The fascination with outside cultures in today's modern American society can be seen as a positive achievement in the eyes of social activists, but this fascination of the exoticness of these foreign places or Orientalism does little for the stereotypes associated with the different ethnic groups of the world. American's attention span towards foreign countries, particularly those considered as third world countries, rise and fall with the latest headline news. Although the media has the greatest influence to inform the public of genocidal, starvation, or health epidemic situations; they quickly move from headline to headline without truly delving deep into possibly why or how the situation occurred or the possible harmful side affects the negative news coverage has on Americans and their perception of foreign countries. The ability of the media to overshadow foreign countries with pessimistic news coverage has caused the meaning of Orientalism to change from the whimsical appeal of the exotic nations of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to a negative definition filled with prejudices and stereotypes.

Orientalism used to expose the worthy aspects of a nation; the art, architecture, landscapes, and cityscapes. Orientalism could be seen as a tourist guide to a country, never would a tourist pay to visit the poverty stricken slums of Kenya. Instead they wish to see the exotic facet of the country; the Serengeti with its lions, zebras, and elephants or China's unique architecture or the Great Wall. The media's negative focus has driven away tourists, thus causing countries already drowning in poverty to fall deeper. The poverty level of African nations is a major cause of why a 1997 report "determined that there were 34 states engaged in "major armed conflicts" in 1996, in varying degrees of intensity. The African continent accounted for 15 armed conflicts in that year." (WorldViews) The benefits of tourism in the socioeconomic perspective is said to be a "great potential for the poorest countries -particularly in Africa." ( UNWTO) American news companies not only need to report on the negative news, but they also need to focus on the positive events occurring in these nations in order to encourage tourism, thus bringing money and jobs and bringing the country out of the poverty level.

Orientalism does not always have to be associated with Eastern nations, cities within the United States can also have orient characteristics. In Michael Dyson's Come Hell of High Water, New Orleans has always had an oriental feel with it's French Quarter, Creole, and blue's appeal. After Hurricane Katrina the media pounced on the black citizens of New Orleans, fueling the already strong stereotypes of blacks in America. Kanye West spoke out against the media, "I hate the way they portray us in the media...If you see a black family, it says, 'They're looting.' You see a white family, it says, 'They're looking for food.'" (Dyson 26) Instead of embracing the black community during these dire times, they instead focused on the negative and kicked this city when it was already down. The time spent creating these negative stories could have been better spent by pleading Americans to send charity and actually helping the citizens instead of belittling them.

I watch the nightly news everyday at six-thirty and everyday the top headlines always take a negative tone: the Mark Foley incident, War on Terror, Israelis versus Palestinians, or Madonna's adoption confusion. Only in the last five minutes of the thirty minute program do they report on a "happy" story. I personally believe they only do this so that the viewer could possibly end the show with a smile, instead of being upset with all the "bad" in the world.

If you asked me what my perception of Iraq was and the only knowledge I would be able to obtain about the topic is from American new reports, I would appear to not be very knowledgeable on the subject. American news coverage has stereotyped Iraqis as American-hating people who live in tents in the desert. But in fact our news coverage has not stressed to Americans the conduct of American soldiers in Iraq as much as European countries have. The recent rape accusations, Haditha murders, and the killing of Nicola Calipari and Terry Lloyd have not graced front page coverage in America as much as they have in European nations. The limited coverage of these incidents shows us the power of the media and the government in controlling what Americans are able to know about any given current event. In 2006, CNN released a video tape of Iraqi snipers targeting American soldiers and taking them down with a single bullet from a high-powered rifle. (CNN) In response to the video tape the United States government released this statement by Tony Snow, "Well, your network has shown pictures of snipers hitting Americans, which was used as a propaganda tool, so the fact is that -- it shows real sophistication on the part of these guys, because it creates the impression that Americans are sitting ducks, and that these guys are capable, when, in fact, while you have a capable enemy, they're dying in much greater numbers and suffering much greater damage." (Snow) After the release of the video tape, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee requested that the