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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 4 page paper discusses Orientalism, and argues that "Malcolm X" can be seen as an Orientalist film, but not in its entirety. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVMalcmX.rtf
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Discussion To answer that question, we first have to define what Edward Said means by the word "Orientalist." In his essay "Islam through Western Eyes," Said says that from the
end of the 18th century until today, "modern Occidental reactions to Islam have been dominated by a type of thinking that may still be called Orientalist" (Said). The basis for
Orientalist thought is the "imaginary geography" that divides the world into "two unequal parts, the larger and different one called the Orient, the other, also known as our world, called
the Occident or the West" (Said). This type of division, Said writes, always takes place when one culture starts to think about or define another that is different (Said). What
is interesting here, however, is that although the West in general thinks the East is inferior, it also endows it with far greater size and potential (Said). Within
this strange, unfamiliar culture lies another even stranger, and one that has been looked at "with a very special hostility and fear": Islam (Said). Although there are many reasons for
this attitude, it derives from one concern, which is that "Islam represents not only a formidable competitor but also a late-coming challenge to Christianity" (Said). Because Islam is perceived
as an alien, dangerous and strange religion, Said says that he has "not been able to discover any period in European or American history since the Middle Ages in which
Islam was generally discussed or thought about outside a framework created by passion, prejudice and political interests" (Said). The result of this is an odd, indirect response by the West
to rising tensions with the East: whenever relations become strained, "there has been a tendency to resort in the West not to direct violence but first to the cool, relatively
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