On Orientalism: Edward Said

On Orientalism: Edward Said:

• Orientalism revolutionized study of the middle East and helped to create and shape entire new field of study such as post-colonial theory as well influencing disciplines as diverse as English, history and cultural study.

• He calls this lens through which we view that  part of the world Orientalism. A framework that we use to understand the unfamiliar and the strange to make the peoples of the middle east appears different and threatening. 

• The central argument of Orientalism is that the way that we acquire this knowledge is not innocent or objective but the end result of a process that reflect certain interest, that is highly motivated.

• Edward Said that Orientalism is a discourse which is a regulated system of producing knowledge within certain constraint where by certain rule have to be observed.

• There is certain sense in which in not really mounting a serious critique of it the Arab have participated and continue to allow themselves to be represented as orientals in this Orientalist way.

Review of films: Midnight's Children and The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Midnight's Children:

Midnight's Children is  1981 Novel by British Indian author Salman Rushdie. It deals with India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of British India. It is considered an example of postcolonial, postmodern and megical realist literature. (Wikipedia)

Postcolonial critique of Salman Rushdie's most famous novel, Midnight's Children. 

Midnight's Children are the children born at the stoke of the midnight of 15th August 1947 that marked India's independence. 

The story is narrated by its chief protagonist Saleem Sinai. The conceptual framework of postcolonial theory is adopted to critique this novel.

Concept is analyzed to extract postcolonial elements of.....

• Magical Realism
• Hybridity
• Postcolonial Feminism
• Mimicry

Magical Realism:

The magical realism narrative adds beauty and vigor to the historical events represented in this novel which otherwise could have been boring to read. The Midnight Children were not ordinary kids they had supernatural power.

Saleem incredible sense of smell, Parvati the witch invisibility basket, Tai the eternal boatman is ageless, Mian Abdullah humming and so on.....

Hybridity:

Saleem is a perfect representation of the hybrid man, born with multiple allegiances and identities. He is character of mixed William Methwold and a poor Indian woman. Yet raised as a son by the middle class Sinais.

 

The Reluctant Fundamentalist:

The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mira Nair's movie is a salutary reminder of the horror that began the 21st century, based on the 2007 novel by Mohsin Hamid.

Fundamentalist refers to religious identity one unfortunately most often associated with Islamik terrorism these day.

Maybe it is disingenuous of the writer to use such a loaded title. But he wants to question our belief. I think it is a clever tactic that compels you to confront your prejudice or your stereotypes.

It's an engrossing story, told and it begins like many immigrant sagas with the American dream, a great job, a beautiful girlfriend and unlimited prospects. But Changez's dream begins to turn into a nightmare after 9/11.

He does an about face and returns to Pakistan. There he teaches at a university and incites students to demonstrate for Pakistan's disengagement from the US. It is his mission in a decaying part of the world to stop the empire from manipulating the fate of powerless countries. He is labeled anti-American. 

Thinking Activity: Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse"

Thinking Activity: Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse".

1)-

Stream of consciousness this technique is very well used in this novel by Virginia Woolf. She very well explain that how thinking makes our relations so much complicated. Because every people think differently to another people and this kind of thought which makes life more complicated.

2)-

Yes, Mrs. Ramsay is a good wife and also good mother. Mrs. Ramsay is major character in the novel because this character which remain from beginning of the novel and end of the novel. In this character Lily is semientobiographical which is represent the Woolf her self and artistic process.

3)-

Catalogues of Army and Navy symbolized that the change of technology and improving human culture. James Cutting the refrigerator it is a symbol of preservation. It is an instrument of science. Cutting a refrigerator it is a negative thing. The catalogues in 'To The Lighthouse' does not have a date but it does have a name world war.

4)-

In 'To The Lighthouse' Virginia Woolf uses a variety of myths. In the novel female role like the mother, and mother remain become the center, mother is controlling one or all. In this novel James who was a son of the Mrs. Ramsay. He love his mother deeply and feels a murderous antipathy toward his father.

5)-

Kustlern means artist it,  eans artist novel. And it is related with the character of Lily Brisco. We can say that 'To The Lighthouse' is kunstlernrroman novel. Because there is two character growth, Virginia Woolf's growth in her life as a writer and the character of Lily Brisco. She is painter but her painting is not complete earlier when Mrs. Ramsay is live but after her death time passes and Lily completed the novel ends. So, painter her growth is also seen in the novel.

6)-

Virginia Woolf her self who is categorically represented by Lily, so in the light house she explain her dilemma with the use of Lily's character. In this novel Mrs. Ramsay always has to struggle or balance the relation between son and father, but Mr. Ramsay storms about in a temper when people do not act according to his wishes or his timetable.

7)-

In the novel we find that the beginning of the novel James desire to go to the lighthouse, and we find that in the end of the novel. Here I'm agree with it that this novel is more poignant than movie because when we read something that time we imagine, so many things with various point of view and different way.

8)-
At the end Lily's painting and she complete the picture of Mrs. Ramsay and its shows the complexity of this both character Lily and Mrs. Ramsay. We can see in this  end Lily always wanted be like Mrs. Ramsay but she not becomes totally like her.