REL 372Fiction, Film and Orientalism

Catalog

Orientalism, as defined by Edward Said, is the ideology that promotes the "West-and-non-West" dichotomy and the idea that "Others are less human." Neo-Orientalism is savvier, and has a more complex and dualist nature, not all that is read or seen is neo-Orientalism narratives is wrong and pejorative, and most significantly, it is written not by outsiders about "the other" like in Orientalism, but by "authentic" insiders. Both narratives serve largely the same purpose, which is to dominate and subordinate both politically and intellectually the non-West. In this course, books and movies that have become bestsellers in the West will be analyzed for Orientalism and neo-Orientalism.