Western Productions vs. Eastern Productions

This previous class I became very interested in the extra dimension that the traditional Asian forms of dance add to the performance of their epics and stories. The contrast that Guru presented between the Western and Eastern styles of telling the same story were what brought this to my attention. Whereas Western plays rely upon the words of the stories to tell their tale, Eastern traditions evoke movement that represents the words to convey their ultimate meaning. Although this is a completely different venue than is used by productions in the West, I can see similarities in both of their goals.

            Shakespeare’s plays were beloved mainly because so many people could understand and relate to them. A good playwright during his era needed to be able to appeal to both the lower and upper classes if one was to be successful in any capacity. Many of the writers at his time used highbrow language un-accessible to the majority of the population but Shakespeare was able to utilize a tone and level of language that every member of his audience could understand.

In the East, they came across a similar problem, but contrived a much different solution. The challenge was that the Mahabharata was written in Sanskrit, a language most of the population, excluding the high-ranking Brahmins could not understand. So, just like Shakespeare, the performers knew they had to present the story in a way that everyone could comprehend it. Because it was a sacred text, the language could not be changed as in Western plays, so instead the performers chose to express themselves through dance. The dances bring meaning to the spoken parts; they act out the words and are really the heart of the story.

Connections Between the Mahabharata, Greek Mythology, and the Bible

When watching the production of the Mahabharata today in class, I was surprised to see that I could draw a number of connections between the religious beliefs expressed in this epic and ones I had already been exposed to through Greek mythology and the Christian Bible. I was previously aware that most religions have some aspect of similarity between them, but the comparisons surprised me nonetheless.

            One instance in which I drew a connection between Greek mythology and the Mahabharata was the similarities between the birth of the Kaurava brothers and the myth of the Dragon’s teeth from which were born the warriors called the spartoi. The Kaurava brothers were born from a ball of flesh that had been cut up and buried. Similarly, the spartoi were born of dragon’s teeth that had been sowed in the ground and then sprung up into ferocious warriors. Also, half-god, half-human children like the Pandava brothers are a common theme among Greek myths. Zeus, the king of the gods, fathered many sons and daughters by a number of mortal women. Most of these children went on to become powerful heroes and warriors, such as Heracles and Perseus, just as the Pandava brothers did.

            The most striking similarity I could draw between the Mahabharata and the Bible was the similarity between the early lives of Moses and the first son of Kunti before her marriage to Pandu, Karna. Like Moses, as a young baby, Karna was set adrift in a basket down a river in hopes that another family would find and care for him. However, the difference between the two was that Karna was trying to protect her reputation as a unwed mother by abandoning Karna whereas Moses’s mother was trying to protect him from the wrath of the Egyptian pharaoh. Another connection I drew between the two religious traditions was between the conception of Kunti’s sons by the gods and the conception of Jesus by the Virgin Mary. Neither woman was ever physically united with a god/God, however both were able to conceive sons in an untraditional manner. 

The Ethics Behind The Epics

As an Indian American who spent the first nine years of my life in New Delhi, I was surprised nobody had ever told me the whole story of the Ramayana and Mahabharata from the beginning to the end. I had known individual stories - some in significantly more detail than we covered in class - but I lacked the big picture. What caught me the most off-guard and in turn increased my appreciation of my cultural roots much more than ever before was the morals and ethics that can be drawn from the actions of Rama, Sita, and Laxmana. The questions (which were brought to the fore by Guru) really made me think. The following, in particular, are still in my head over a week after our discussion:

1. What do we do when someone has a negative thought about us?

2. Is it a part of our dharma to help others take revenge even though the person we are about to harm has done nothing wrong to us?

As for the first question, I'd assume people today generally don't just leave like Laxmana did when Sita had a negative thought about him. I myself (and I like to think I'm in the majority here) spend time with the person and try to refute their thought. I can't say, however, that this always works..

The second question is something that was posed thousands of years ago, but is still relevant today, especially when we look at global politics. Is it the duty of strong nations to be the world police? Is it in fact wrong for nations like the US and EU to take such an active role in world affairs?

These questions may never have an absolute answer, and that is what makes them so important and relevant through time.

My Standpoint on Orientalism

It was truly a strange thing, the realization that the Orient does not exist. This is the type of realization that has you rolling up and down the aisles of your train of thought, screaming with a pillow clutched over your face. My mental image might seem odd to some, but it was the only thing I could concentrate on as I repeated over and over within my mind, “The Orient does not exist. The Orient does not EXIST.” What was the most confusing thing of all, upon this realization, was that the statement that the Orient does not exist is as truthful as the statement that the Orient does exist. And now you understand the true part of my dilemma when we were prompted to write in this blog about Orientalism.

Orientalism, in itself, defines the Orient, which I have already stated does not exist. I am only taking this position, mind you, because I have been studying Orientalism for the past two semesters. Though I still do not fully understand all that it implies, I understand where it came from and why it still affects us today. To simplify things, the Orient, which is where Orientalism originated, is just an idea. Basically, a bunch of European guys got together and decided what they wanted the East to be and fed that to the masses. From then on it piled up further and further, adjusting the views on the East even to today. The basic definition of Orientalism is stereotypes of the East, but it goes further than that to place the West in comparison to the East as the “self” and the “other.” Since we define ourselves off of others, Orientalism was the West’s way to define themselves by contrasting the East, and from there conquering the “other.”

Realizing all of this, I cannot really look at the different types of Asian theater and see it through the guise of Orientalism. Sure, it might appear to be odd, with dancers in a trance-like state stabbing themselves, but truly it is not. We simply do not have anything similar to that in America. I, personally, have seen far stranger things done in the West. Dance styles we have in the West could be recognized as the “other” from the Eastern perspective. Truly, we stand on equal ground. However, it cannot be ignored that Orientalism does affect the way we view the world. Everyone catches themselves indulging in stereotypes once in awhile, though we realize that they are false. The most we can do to defeat Orientalism’s hold on us is to learn more, to understand it as well as each other, and move past all differences.

Philosophies of Mahabharata

    One philosophy in the Mahabharata is treating people as equals. Dhritarashtra treats his brothers' sons as if they were his own. He keeps prolonging the war because he does not want to choose his sons over Pandu's sons. As long as the sons keep gabling, the war can be prolonged. The idea of treating others as equals does not only apply to immidiate family, but it also applies to the general public in that we should see others as our brothers and sisters. This fundamental idea is taught from the moment one enters kindergarden and the teacher tells the class to"treat others the way you want to be treated."
     Another reoccurring philosophy in the Mahabharata is the idea of Karma. This concept implies that every action has an effect, and that the nature of the effect is reciprocal to the nature of the cause. Because Pandu accidentally kills the couple in the forest while he is hunting (cause), he is cursed to die (effect). Even though Pandu did not intend to kill the couple, his karma implies that he should not be killing anything to begin with -- wether it be humans or animals. Although Pandu could have received another punishment for his actions, he receives exactly what he deserves:  he killed two lovers, therefore, him and his lovers (wives) are cursed to die.
     For me, karma is a huge part of my life because all my actions have consequences. The more aware I am about Karma, the better decisions I make. However, I still do not understand the inner workings of karma. Is it a bilief that turns into a mentality? Is it an energy? Is it God? Maybe it is all of these forces working together, but regardless of what controls it, I know that it is a powerful concept that never fails to prove itself.

Hegemony and Orientalism

Hegemony plays a large part in our culture.  It shapes the way we view and think about others outside of our own circumstances.  I have been trapped in my own cultural perspective and have experienced hegemony like others through education.  Growing up, a focus in school is placed on learning about our own history here in the US.  Even when studying about other cultures, we view them through their interactions with our culture and how they affected us.  Now, I am currently enrolled in a global history class but I find that it is still difficult to escape our own cultural perspective.  A focus is still placed on ideas that our culture values.  For example, the idea of forming empires and the rise of civilizations are topics that we place emphasis on.  It would be ideal to not have to deal with hegemony but it has been incorporated into our way of thinking.  We are stuck seeing things from our own perspective and are even educated with this belief that we are superior.  I think it is possible to limit the effects of hegemony but never completely rid yourself of this biased view of other cultures.

                I also acknowledge that orientalism plays a large part in our view of the world.  I feel like I have been guilty of lumping Asian cultures together and seeing them as all being basically the same.  This is clearly not true but our society’s stereotypes lead to this view.  We stereotype Asian cultures and only focus on certain aspects of them.  I am hoping this class will help change my views of these cultures.  I want to broaden my understanding of all these different cultures and discover the differences of each.  I want to see the value and uniqueness in all of them.  I would like to see where these cultures come from, where they are now, and how they got there.  Hopefully, I can look past these stereotypes our society instills in us to increase my knowledge of the world.   

My Thoughts on Orientalism and other such things...

Hello Everyone,

This being my first post here I wanted to start of by saying that many of the things that I am learning in this class are very new concepts to me such as, Hegemony and the actual meaning of Orientalism. While other things such as the Ramayana and the things that make up Asian Theatre are merely be expanded on due to take Guru's class on Asian Folklore. I was quite surprised when I started this class at the fact of how little I know about the meaning of Orientalism and how it can be applied and I definitely had no idea what Hegemony even meant. Feeling that I really did not grasp its definition in class I decided to look up a formal meaning. Hegemony: leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others. I applied this meaning to what we were learning in our first few days of class and I found that the lectures now make much more sense. Many of the Asian countries that we were discussing had be occupied and/or ruled by other nations with outside cultural influences. This, of course, leads to a resounding affect of the theatre. Orientalism comes into play here because I believe it affects how we view what we see in Asian theatre. We expect certain things when we are told about an Asian theatrical performance based off of stereotypes that we have come to understand are the "norm" of Asian performance.
Where I am from there really is no such stereotype. This is not because there is no prejudice in SW Virginia, but rather due to the fact that there is almost a total absence of Asian culture where I live. This is why the stereotypes of Orientalism did not register with me when I would watch TV or a play that contained Asian culture. I find that this initially is what drew me to the culture itself and I am rather glad that I escaped those preconceived notions so that my view of Asian culture can come strictly from a Non-orientialist point of view.