Analysis Of Orientalism In Rice Or Song Of Orientalism

Asian-American author, Amy Tan, reflects in her personal essay, Mother Tongue (1991), her perception of language and ethnic identity through an employment of anecdotes and repetition. The history of Asian-Americans goes back to the nineteenth century when thousands of men left their families and homes in China, as well as other Asian countries, to seek their fortunes in the United States (Huntley 21). The Chinese, forming the largest Asian immigrant group, “became the first Asians to experience institutionalized discrimination when the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed by Congress, barring the majority of Chinese from entering the United States” (Huntley 21). International and domestic factors during the Cold War finally prompted the abolition of the quota system and the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act (Lee 3). Amy was born in California in 1952 to parents who had emigrated from China several years earlier (Huntley 1). As a second generation American, Tan’s parents wanted her to have “American circumstances and Chinese character” (Huntley 2); to her traditional Chinese parents’ dismay, she fully embraced the dominant American culture outside her home. Through the dual lenses of her American identity and her ethnic roots, Tan creatively shares her own experiences with language and emigration, while exploring the many facets of biculturalism and the challenges of integrating two distinct cultures.

The play first reveals the shortsightedness of stereotypes made by Westerners, when the submissive Asian woman is awaiting a dominant Western male. Throughout the play, Gallimard is reliving his experiences that he has shared with Song in prison so he flashes back to describe his story of the perfect woman. Gallimard first flashes back to the German Ambassador house in 1960’s where he first meets Song. Gallimard and Song end up conversing about the opera Madame Butterfly that Song was performing in. Song thinks the opera is ridiculous, but Gallimard likes the opera. Gallimard tells Song how she did a beautiful job as butterfly and how her character was very convincing. Song argues with Gallimard, stating that this opera is only beautiful to Westerners. He asks if “it’s one of your favorite fantasies, isn’t it? The submissive oriental woman and the cruel white man” (17). After hearing these words, Gallimard turns rather defensive; despite his own stereotyping of Asian women, he does not want to be trapped in a stereotypical Western mindset. Song effectively trashes this stereotype by using his devious skills to manipulate

Within a single culture there are differences based on religion, politics, nationality, race, and ideology that go largely unassumed by its members. This leads to people defining others in ways that are entirely inaccurate. Members of these imagined communities who live without their identities being recognized by the larger majority are very similar to the subordinate, more “primitive” cultures that exist in the world in the sense that most of the time, they go unacknowledged by larger, more advanced powers. When these subsidiary entities are unable to make themselves known, they simply become easily influenced by higher powers since they tend to become “a quiescent, ignorant, manipulable electorate” (Pratt, 510). It is vital that these marginalized peoples learn to make themselves heard, for there are many principles and ideas that can be learnt from them.

America has always been labeled the “melting pot” and the “land of the free,” but when one is analyzing the history and social norms of the country, these statements are far from true. America has thrived through the oppression of minority groups and social pressure towards these groups to conform to the majority culture. In any historical sense, from the near extermination of Native Americans to the racial profiling of Muslim individuals after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, minority groups have always been the victims and have always been viewed as different if they do not assimilate into the “typical” American culture. Numerous works of literature have successfully displayed the struggles that minorities face when attempting to conform. Two works in particular, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman and When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, tell stories of two different minority groups: Native Americans living in the 21st century and Japanese-Americans during World War II. While these stories are separated by several decades, it is clear that American culture has not changed, as each story exemplifies how difficult it truly is to leave old cultural norms behind in order to be accepted by the majority.

“America the land of opportunity, to all” has always been a driving force for many people from poor, undeveloped societies far away from America. This simple saying has brought over millions and millions of people from they’re native countries, leaving behind families and friends. Some never to return. Once in America, reality sets in for most of these groups as that suffer thought unequal treatment, racism and discrimination. One such group involved similar treatments were the Chinese- Americans, in the documentary “Becoming American- the Chinese Experience” we are given a first hand looks and descriptions of the hate that Chinese- American suffered in America. This paper will discuss these events including the documentary and class notes, further it will also describe the difference treatment that Chinese- American face in present day compared to the past.

In Document C, Liu describes his relationship with the labels associated with having assimilated. He states “that I have been described as an ‘honorary white,’ by other whites, and as a ‘banana,’ by other asians.” since he had adopted the white american lifestyle, yet fit the profile of an asian man (Doc C). People spend years trying to create a self image that others will accept and “like,” but often find themselves caught in the middle like Liu. As Mukherjee says “The price that the immigrant willingly pays, and that exile avoids, is the trauma of self-transformation.”

Maxine Kingston's Making of More Americans like Amy Tan's Mother Tongue has been a controversial addition to Asian American literature. The writer has tried to answer the critical question of Chinese American identity and hence been criticized for adopting an orientalist framework to win approval of the west. Similarly Rendezvous by Frank Chin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan also speak of a culture that neatly fits the description of the "Other" in the orientalist framework. It appears alien, remote and immensely degrading to women who were treated like non-human beings by Chinese chauvinistic society. However things changed for the generation of Chinese that grew up in the US or at least that is what authors wants us to believe.

Reading T. R. Reid's new book brought me back to that conversation. ''Confucius Lives Next Door'' is aptly named. Reid, a longtime reporter and Asia correspondent for The Washington Post, has nailed his copy of the Analects to the mast. Drawing on the experience of his own and his family's life in Tokyo and other east Asian points, he has written a paean to what he terms ''east Asia's social miracle -- how the Asians have built modern industrial societies characterized by the safest streets, the best schools and the most stable families in the world.'' Asians, he holds, have ''a sense of civility and harmony that you can feel,'' and they ''achieved their social miracle primarily by holding to a

Many circumstances oblige people to move from their native country to a foreign one. From this movement of migration have emerged many ethnic groups. An ethnic group is a restraint number of persons living in a larger society and sharing the same distinct cultural heritage. Some people tend to bury their habits and accommodate to the new way of life. However others hold on to their identity and try to identify their race and maintain it. This enriches societies and makes them multi-racial. Therefore, every ethnic group is essential to complete the mosaic. Although they are sometimes threatened, minorities must fight to preserve their principles. Why must they fight? Because racial identification has many positive impacts on the members.

In this essay I am going to examine examples of multiculturalism and polyculturalism from the novel “I Hotel” by Karen Tei Yamashita. For the examples I choose I am going to explain why and how these are examples of multiculturalism or polyculturalism. Also, I am goint to explain how the novel presents a new form of identification and how the examples of polyculturalism are related to such a new form of identification. I Hotel: A Novel, consists of ten novellas. Each novella introduces interesting stories of various social and ethnic movements, comprised of diverse participants, such as Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Latino Americans, Russian immigrants, college students, factory workers, intellectuals, etc., which orbit around a shelter in San Francisco for new immigrants and low income working class people of color, called the I Hotel. Based on then years of research and over 100 interviews with real people who were involved in the multi ethnic political movements, Yamashita seeks to illustrate people’s struggles to create strong political grounds for “hyphenated Americans,” as well as their frustrations toward the bureaucratization of ethnic identification as a tool for dividing people. In particular, Yamashita represents this period of civil rights movements as linked to the critiques of capitalism and solidarity along class lines, instead of focusing only on the cultural heritage of race and ethnicity. Now let start defining what is

Orientalism, is a school of thought based entirely the exploitation of cultural differences between western and eastern peoples, Satrapi illustrates this strict dichotomy and the distress these differences caused her growing up as they call into question her very cultural identity. Orientalism is more complex than political or economic imperialism, Said articulates the peculiar relationship between Orient and Occident as such, “...the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience” (2 Said). Both gain meaning from opposing the other, any form of syncretism threatens the culture of both. Satrapi reflects on how this strict segregation of what is European and what is Iranian confused her as a child. As a result of

In 1990, the rice is grown around 520 million tons in 112 countries and 95 percent of them were produced and consumed in Asia (Chang). The rice in Asian culture is not just cereal, but it’s part of their lives. It serves their meal almost everyday on their dining table. Oryza sativa is a species of monocot plants and known as Asian rice. The grain was spread started from South Asia to Southeast Asia and East Asia.

Orientalism is a study of language and traditions of the people and their culture in the Middle East. These studies are mostly done by people outside of the culture that is being looked at, and mostly the studies are being performed by white western men. Edward Said believed that there was a problem with the way in which other people were studying and writing about his culture. He was upset and spoke up when he wrote a booked called “Orientalism,” in his book he points out many reasons why the study of orientalism is hurting the cultures in which they are studying. The study of other cultures and countries better known as the Orient has become a popular discussion since Said’s book on orientalism was published. This paper will take a look

Orientalism is defined as a way of viewing Eastern cultures in contrast to European and more Western cultures. Orientalism often leads to a distorted view of these cultures, often depicting the people as overly exotic, mysterious, or amoral. Such is the case with Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. This play was written during a time when Shakespeare was turning his attention away from claustrophobic city life and focusing more on the world. He moves the setting of his play from Europe to Egypt, more specifically Alexandria, the city in which Cleopatra resides. While other locations are used in the play, the focus seems to be on Egypt and the culture there.

Occidentalism, as a concept, remains debated amongst scholars to this day. While the essential components have a modicum of consensus, the finer points remain vague, and its prevalence amongst intellectuals in Oriental societies varies dramatically. At the most basic level, Occidentalism is the mirror image of Orientalism. Just as Orientalism consists of an abstract, disconnected rendering of “Oriental” societies within the mentality of Orientalists, Occidentalism provides a similarly essentialist perception of the West, or “Occident”. The Occident is perceived as a monolithic entity, diametrically opposed to the Orient on a cultural level. Occidentalism as practiced by Oriental scholars traces its intellectual roots to traditional European Orientalism, and retains the very same fallacies that have recently become so reviled amongst Western academics in regard to Orientalism.