Orientalism & Hegemony in American Culture

When looking at the historical context of Orientalism within American culture, the current negative homogenization of the Asian culture becomes extremely evident. Orientalism began in the 19th century when American scholars began to translate Asian writings. They thought that effective colonial conquest required knowledge of the conquered people. This gave rise to the idea of knowledge as power, coined by Said. America's rising power and superiority complex attached with their imperialistic tendencies served as the backbone to their conquest of foreign Asian countries.

In it's beginnings, Orientalism was solely considered to be the artistic imitation or depiction of Asian cultures. Yet, throughout the centuries it has become to mean so much more than that. Today, Orientalism has come to signify the cultural homogenization and stereotyping of the vastly diverse Asian peoples. An implicit negative connotation has accompanied the widely used term in American culture today. The lack of knowledge towards Asian cultures among Westerners has caused a great perpetuation of the term and consequent degradation of Asians. Although already discussed in another blog, I can't help but to relate this topic to my high school production of A Thoroughly Modern Millie. I was in the cast of this performance my junior year and not only watched, but unknowingly participated in Orientalistic tendencies. Two of my best friends (both of whom were non-Asian) played the roles of the two Asian comic-relief characters. Throughout the rehearsal process, my director reinforced the idea that both of these characters were solely used in the play for comic relief and had no real substance to them. Because of this, he flippantly forced both actors to use stereotyped actions and behaviors that Westerners commonly associate with Asian culture. There was no true depiction of Asian culture whatsoever. Even worse was the fact that my director did not force them to perfect the Asian dialect in which they had to speak in. He commented that "no one would know if they messed up anyways." This was obviously not true considering the Asian demographic that came to see the play. The negative homogenization of these characters and clear digression from any sort of reality was noted by several audience members. Yet, I couldn't help to go along with our depiction of these characters solely because of my lack of knowledge on Asian culture.

Thinking back to it, I have to wonder whether my director and the adults in charge of the production were to blame, or was their subsequent lack of knowledge a result of the failure of a American society to take strides to become more culturally aware and empathetic. To be honest, I am not entirely sure. I believe that every individual has the responsibility to educate themselves on world events and cultures. Yet, to what degree does that become a national problem? The hegemony that has become a cornerstone of American society has made it almost impossible for individuals to truly appreciate other cultures. Our intrinsically obsessed nature with America has consequently blinded us towards appreciating and educating ourselves on other countries. This deeply-rooted value in America has hindered society's ability to stress world education and understanding. This issue, paired with individuals' tendency to follow cultural norms has created an extreme difficulty in undoing our homogenous views of other cultures. The continuation of Orientalism is a direct result of these failures. Unfortunately, I think because these perceptions are so deeply imbedded into our society, Orientalism and other homogenizations by Americans like it will continue to persist for years to come.