Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Biblical Assyria And Other Anxieties In The British Empire, Steven W. Holloway

Steven W Holloway

The successful “invasion” of ancient Mesopotamia by explorers in the pay of the British Museum Trustees resulted in best-selling publications, a treasure-trove of Assyrian antiquities for display purposes and scholarly excavation, and a remarkable boost to the quest for confirmation of the literal truth of the Bible. The public registered its delight with the findings through the turnstyle- twirling appeal of the British Museum exhibits, and a series of appropriations of Assyrian art motifs and narratives in popular culture - jewelry, bookends, clocks, fine arts, theater productions, and a walk-through Assyrian palace among other period mansions at the Sydenham Crystal …

An American Orientalist: The Life & Legacy Of Edward E. Salisbury (1814-1901) (Exhibit Curator's Talk), Roberta L. Dougherty

Roberta L. Dougherty

An American Orientalist: The Life & Legacy Of Edward E. Salisbury (1814-1901) (Slides), Roberta L. Dougherty

Roberta L. Dougherty

Othering, An Analysis, Lajos L. Brons

Lajos Brons

Othering is the construction and identification of the self or in-group and the other or out-group in mutual, unequal opposition by attributing relative inferiority and/or radical alienness to the other/out-group. The notion of othering spread from feminist theory and post-colonial studies to other areas of the humanities and social sciences, but is originally rooted in Hegel’s dialectic of identification and distantiation in the encounter of the self with some other in his “Master-Slave dialectic”. In this paper, after reviewing the philosophical and psychological background of othering, I distinguish two kinds of othering, “crude” and “sophisticated”, that differ in the logical …

Black And White Memories: Re-Inscription Of Visual Orientalism In Embroideries, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

In the aftermath of the tragedies of 9/11, the West began to represent the East in a darker way. The western mass media, and the art and literary markets are riddled with visual discourses that consolidate the stereotypical representation of the Orient. One of these visual discourses which strengthen the stereotypes is the portrayals of Eastern women. Almost without exception, the whole mass media use images of eastern veiled women either as victim or lecherous to bolster its East/West demarcation. These sorts of images can be found in some contemporary Muslim women’s works as well. By examining the history of …

New Age, Old Discourse: National Geographic, Orientialism, And Coverage Of Afghanistan In The 21st Century, Brandon Hensley

Brandon O. Hensley

This paper explores National Geographic magazine's coverage of Afghanistan in 2002. In total, 7 of the 12 issues from 2002 have articles about Afghanistan regarding the war, continuous hardship and unrest, and an Afghan woman refugee with green eyes who was on the cover in 1985 and disappeared until 2002. Through a critical examination of these articles as textual representations of the Orient, I intend to draw upon Said's framework of Orientalism to explore how the discourse in National Geographic coverage of Afghanistan is embedded in a hegemonic reproduction of the indigenous other and the West's "benevolent" role in stabilizing …

Educating Prisoners Of Tradition: Visual Narratives Of Afghan Women On Social Media, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

More than a decade after the US-led intervention of Afghanistan, traditional and tribal customs still play a significant role in the everyday lives of people, especially women. History has proven that women have been playing a significant role in shaping the course of Afghanistan but unfortunately, they are always subjected to different degrees of force by patriarchy and traditions. By examining the historical perspective of women’s status in Afghanistan and by analyzing two Youtube documentaries on women’s imprisonment, we argue that 12 years after the US-led intervention, women are still suffering from traditional and tribal laws. This paper seeks to …

Muslim Women’S Memoirs: Disclosing Violence Or Reproducing Islamophobia?, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

As an upshot of 9/11, the literary market in the West saw a proliferation in writings by and about Muslim women. Many of these works are memoirs which focus on Islam, a patriarchal society, and the state’s oppression on women. These Muslim women memoirists take the western readers into a journey of unseen and unheard events of their private lives which is apparently of great interest for the westerners. Some of these memoirs, which reveal the atrocities and hardships of living in a Muslim society under oppressive Islamic regimes, are fraught with stereotypes and generalizations. Utilizing Gillian Whitlock’s theory of …

Bearers Of Culture: Images Of Veiling In Marjane Satrapi’S Persepolis, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

Much ink has been spilled on the history of veiling, reveiling, and unveiling in various parts of the Muslim world, particularly in Iran. However, little mention is given in most scholarly works as to how it affects women and its ramifications in society. By examining the history of veiling in Iran and the study of veiling as represented in Marjane Satrapi’s memoir, Persepolis, this paper sheds light on the ramifications of forced unveiling and veiling, and it also enlightens the readers to how the Iranian women became the yardstick with which the country’s progress is measured. We argue that the …

Moving Beyond The “Mosqueteria:” A Critical Analysis Of The Media’S Coverage Of Religious Accommodation At An Ontario Public School, Aruba Mahmud

Aruba Mahmud

This qualitative case study considers the weekly congregational Muslim prayers held at an Ontario public middle school and the widespread media and public reaction to them. Drawing primarily from the work of Said (1997, 2003), this research questions how and why the prayers became the source of controversy nearly four years after they commenced, and what, if any, impact this media and public reaction has had on the school community. Eight interviews were conducted, along with a critical analysis of the news coverage of the prayers. The results reveal the persistence of post-colonial discourse and prejudice towards Muslims and Islam …

Re-Orientalisation And The Pursuit Of Ecstasy: Remembering Homeland In Prisoner Of Tehran, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

The Western literary market is saturated with the Middle Eastern women memoirs since 9/11. What caused this saturation lies in the curiosity of the West to know about the Middle Easterners after 9/11 and the following President Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ speech addressed to Iran, North Korea and Iraq, followed by launching his ‘war on terror’ project. This was the time when an influx of memoirs by and about Iranian women has emerged. This paper examines Marina Nemat’s memories of her birthland in her memoir, Prisoner of Tehran. Utilizing Dabashi’s concept of ‘native informer’, Bhabha’s concept of ‘stereotypical representation’ and …

Critical Pedagogy Of A Post-9/11 Muslim Memoir, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

Traditional education of literature would do injustice to both students and the discipline in this age of globalization. This is the era when teachers should use critical pedagogy to teach any genre of literature. Nowadays, a great number of memoirs form the Middle East perpetuate Islamophobia; yet some of them are taught at schools in the West. Perpetrating and perpetuating Islamophobia, as a trait of globalization, can be seen in some Iranian diasporic writings as well. This paper examines Persepolis: The story of a childhood, a diasporic Iranian memoir that is included in the educational curriculum of some Western schools. …

Orientalisation Through Paratexts: The Covers Of Muslim Memoirs, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

The influx of memoirs by and about Iranian women has saturated the post-9/11 Western literary market. These memoirs, which emerged after 9/11 and the President Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ speech addressed to Iran, North Korea and Iraq, are written to quench the curiosity of the Western readers. However many of these memoirists have adopted Western Orientalism framework in writing their discourse. They use the Iranian psyche, people, culture and religious worlds to reproduce the Western bias against the ‘Other.’ This portrayal of Western Orientalism ‘otherness’, which oftentimes begins right from the covers of the memoirs, can be called orientalisation through …

From Courtly Curiosity To Revolutionary Refreshment: Turkish Coffee And English Politics In The Seventeenth Century, Alexander Mirkovic

Alexander Mirkovic

Why was coffee so fashionable yet so divisive a political symbol during the latter half of the seventeenth century? Historians have offered several answers, including the suggestion that the nascent Orientalism generated its popularity. Undeniably seventeenth century England imported exotic commodities, including coffee and tea, and began to appropriate them for the English culture. Did that also imply maintaining the cultural superiority over the natives? I argue that coffee was symbolically transformed during the political and revolutionary turmoil of the seventeenth century. Coffee was first introduced in the early part of the century to the Stuart court where it was …

The Construction Of Self And The Rejection Of The Natives As The Inferior Other: Sadegh Hedayat’S Blind Owl, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

Iranian intellectuals including Iranian modern literary writers who were supposed to act as the consciousness and voice of their people fall prey to the imported Western modernity. The influence of these western education and culture rendered them so alienated that pushed them to build a big rift between themselves and the rest of the society. This causes these writers to create an image of the natives that comes to the fore as the most macabre and stereotypical representation of the indigenous people. Although many different studies have been carried out on the Blind Owl, it seems that little focus has …

The Resonance Of Postcolonialism In Hedayat’S Stray Dog, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

Sadegh Hedayat‘s The Stray Dog oscillates between two geographical locales, native homeland and the land of his master where he spent a part of his life there, Europe. This story can be read as the manifestation of the Iranian identity dilemma which is defined as a confused situation in which a sense of ―sardargomi va sargashtegi” ―confusion and wandering‖ began to materialize in the main character.This article, through analyzing the story as an allegorical story, will seek to explain the distinctive problem and condition of displacement encountered by an Iranian writer which arise feelings of isolation, estrangement, internal and external …

A Brown Skin Writer As An Imperialistic Native Informer: Remembering The Homeland In Reading Lolita In Tehran, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

Largely neglected throughout the 1980s and 1990s, in the post-revolution period, Iranian immigrant women writers have become important to a growing Western readership. One of the most striking features of this emerging literature is its obsession with the personal and collective past, which has translated into the dominance of the memoir as a genre. For the last few decades, these women in exile have been creating a literature engaged with what have become the most suitable topics of the day: immigration, exile, religious fundamentalism and women‟s right (Darznik, 2008). Through memoirs, they were able to voice their political and ideological …

Orientalized From Within: Modernity And Modern Anti-Imperial Iranian Intellectual Gharbzadegi And The Roots Of Mental Wretchedness, Esmaeil Zeiny

Esmaeil Zeiny

In the conditions in which dominant global powers is still trying to expand their cultural hegemony, neo-colonialism, over the countries which are trying to hold their independence, through the creation of native intellectuals who are mentally Gharbzadeh, Westoxificated. This study finds it crucial to take the issue a step further ahead to discuss how the ideas of Ale-e Ahamad’s famous theory of Gharbzadegi is still applicable in our time and reveals its representations in Said’s well-known concept of Orientalism. These imperial powers through the controlling of the world’s educational system and thoughts and ultimately the mindsets of the native intellectuals …

Interpretation And Orientalism: Outing Japan's Sexual Minorities To The English-Speaking World, Mark J. Mclelland

Mark McLelland

The growing visibility of Japanese gay men and lesbians who articulate their identities in a manner similar to activists in the west has been heightened by two recent English books Queer Japan and Coming Out in Japan. While acknowledging the need to listen to a plurality of voices from Japan, this essay critiques the manner in which the coming-out narratives in these books have been framed by their western translators and editors. In the introductions to both books, Japan is (once again) pictured as a feudal and repressive society. In their efforts to let the homosexual subaltern speak, the translators …

Poe's Poetry Of The Exotic, Brian Yothers

Brian Yothers

This essay examines Edgar Allan Poe's poetry in relation to popular nineteenth-century American travel writing. The link takes you to a description of the book on the publisher's website.

Art Series - Aloha Dreams, Laura Kina

Laura Kina

Aloha Dreams (2007) In this mixed media painting series and installation, Kina examines her Orientalist impulse for heritage tourism. Looking nostalgically at her family’s history as Okinawan sugar cane plantation workers on the Big Island of Hawaii, she ultimately finds herself through mediated pop images of paradise and in the very real space of a Midwestern Vietnamese nail salon. View the series: http://www.laurakina.com/aloha.html

A Passage To The Self: Homoerotic Orientalism And Hispanic Life-Writing., Robert Ellis

Robert Ellis

The development of autobiography as a dominant literary genre and the formulation of modern conceptions of sexuality are largely synchronic phenomena. Modern autobiography, produced in the context of high capitalism, presupposes the existence of a discrete self whose meaning is revealed through reflection and rendered tangible through linguistic representation. According to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century sexologists, this self is fundamentally sexual. In what is perhaps the most famous passage of The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault explains how sexologists conceived of male homosexuality as “a singular nature” lying “at the root of all [one’s] actions” (43). Its essence, they …