Orientalism and Religion Research Assignment Paper

Orientalism and Religion
My most recent readings covered the topic of Orientalism in both religion and Western society as a whole. Said defines Orientalism as something which helped to revolutionise the study of Asian countries in a number of fields (Saida), so at first we can perhaps see that the word in and of itself is not something which denotes a negative connotation. This is possibly backed up by Said’s own later assertions about orientalism, that it is used “less to refer to his own book than to the problems” (Saidc 89) which are currently associated with how we see these countries as a whole. Indeed, his ideas surrounding the word could themselves point to the changes and problems he is referring to.
The West has created a dichotomy, between the reality of the East and the romantic notion of the "Orient”. The Middle East and Asia are viewed with prejudice and racism. They are backward and unaware of their own history and culture. (Saidc 1)
Part of the problem with our understanding of the East versus our romanticised version of the Orient is possibly to do with the lack of appropriate communication during the time when the West had its arguably biggest presence within the East (i.e. during the Empire). We must also take the vagaries of power into consideration as a means of distorting an image (Saidc 91-92) both then and now, as this is most likely something which added to the ‘mystique’ which still surrounds various aspects of the Orient and what it can offer us today.
The images gathered in “Orientalism and Asian-American Religions” show us that, far from becoming less susceptible to the ideas surrounding Asia as a country which is mysterious and offers hidden mysteries to us (see particularly pages five to eight for this (n.a. 5-8)), the idea seems to have become entrenched over the years, to the point where that seems to be the only image many people have of the East. This stands in contrast to our own ideals surrounding, to use Said’s own example (Saidb 92-93), Shakespeare, who is interpreted anew with every generation which passes. This re-interpretation allows for changes in both soc...