Western self and the eastern other english literature essay

The romantic Oriental poems of Coleridge, Shelly and Lord Byron present the colonial relationship between West and East that was abundant with over-fertile stereotypes. ” According to the Stereotype, the Oriental subjects have no power over their will, and live in an exotic, timeless never-never land closer to the realm of mythology than history. We might say that the oriental is represented as the ” other” of the westerner, who in contrast lives in a ” progressive” and purposeful historical present motivated by moral choice and action.” (RW, P. 224)With reference to the above quotation, discuss in an essay of 2000 words three romantic poems by the aforementioned poets in view of the following critical issues: 1. The notions of Colonialism, Orientalism according to Edward Said and Oriental Renaissance according to Raymond Schwab. 2. The representation of the Western ” self” and the Eastern ” other”. 3. The moral ground of Romanticism, its restriction to the European Continent and exclusion of other nations. 4. Your own reflections and comments on the image of the Orient in Romantic poetry and its misleading effects that contributed to misunderstanding and mistreatment between West and East. Europe was looking to the east which linked to alien beings, extraordinary experiences, and a danger place and evil races where it’s strange society based on witchcraft and sorcery fantasy and sex, orientalism a style of thought based on the existential and cognitive discrimination between East and West knowledge, culture and institutions to serve the Western power and control on the east. Orientalist is all a lesson from the orient This is a common term that is related to the position which grown colonial Orientalism in conjunction with colonialism and imperialism of the Middle to deepen the hatred in the hearts of their people and an apology not colonization. The romantic oriental poem of Coleridge, Shelly and Lord Byron present the colonial relationship between west and east……Samuel Taylor has written the famous poem ” Kubla Khan” (completed in 1797 and published in 1816). Samuel Taylor who was an English poet, critic and philosopher and describe as the father of romantic. He was of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England, in ” Kubla Khan” a new horizon refining the relation between romantic attitudes and orient. S. T. C has explained how romantic relation with orient is not reaction but on action by itself with border, political, cultural and economic Implication that has been affected the spread of western colonies in the east. S. T . C has coined the stereotype that orient subjects with no power over will… S. T . C in his poem ” Kubla Khan” has distinguish between ” orient and others ” on the other hand while studying ” Ozymandias” by Shelly(published in 1818) there are many simulators between her view and romantic attitude the east and S. T. C views . The view that orient subjects have no power over will that is why a man who falls in love with a woman is left broken hearted. The poem’s preface describes how at the time of falling into his opium-induced reverie, In fact, Romantic attitudes to the Orient are not simply reactions to the pleasures and pains of opium but also have broader cultural, political and economic ramifications closely linked to European imperial expansion in the East. In fact, S. T. C ” Kubla Khan” seems to identify with a cultural stereotype which associates the orient with narcotic reverie, myth and mystical contemplation. According to the stereotype, the oriental subjects have no power over their will. And live in a timeless, exotic; never-never land closer the field of mythology rather than history. We can say that the oriental is represented as ” the other ” of the westerner, who in contrast lives in a progressive and purposeful historical present motivated by moral choice and action. Orientalist stereotypes work by setting up a dichotomy between familiar and exotic cultures. Orientalist stereotype tell us’ more about western culture than they do about oriental culture. Moreover, Byron (1814) in the ” Corsair Pirate” emphasized the fact that the western white hero is right regardless to any evil acts and the eastern BASHA ends up always evil. In these view, Byron, has displayed the dominant attitudes toward the era and orientalism back then . Byron, when he wrote this poem in 1814, it was clear how much he wants them to express himself and his desires struggle against the Turks … Is the one who has suffered a long period of his time fighting next to the Greeks against the Ottoman occupation of their country. Hero of his poem ‘pirate’ Conrad similar Byron somehow, It is a model hero Albaeroni, is a cruel and evil course, Gelnar represent the personality of women Eastern Baron sees a negative impact on figure turn around Medora While Western man playing the role of the Savior who came to the East to save women from the tyranny of Basha and restrictions imposed by the entire community manly. In recent times, ” Edward said” he introduce new meaning to Orientalism ” the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, and peoples by Western scholars”…” the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists” in his book ” orientalism1978″ Edward said he emphasized the fact the tradition views towards the east were prejudiced and affected by the colonial era . According to said orient was the victim of politic of power and political influence of the west. Orient was found to serve the west, from that aspect, orient was viewed as inferior and ” others” in all colonial writings era . Edward Said has mentioned that the same views of inferiority from west to orient have transported into current views from west towards Arabs . Edward said that the west viewed Arabs as not rational, not trustworthy and as terrorists. Edward Said: ” The hold these instruments have on the mind is increased by the institutions built around them. For every Orientalist, quite literally, there is a support system of staggering power, considering the ephemerality of the myths that Orientalism propagates. The system now culminates into the very institutions of the state. To write about the Arab Oriental world, therefore, is to write with the authority of a nation, and not with the affirmation of a strident ideology but with the unquestioning certainty of absolute truth backed by absolute force.” He continues, ” One would find this kind of procedure less objectionable as political propaganda–which is what it is, of course–were it not accompanied by sermons on the objectivity, the fairness, the impartiality of a real historian, the implication always being that Muslims and Arabs cannot be objective but that Orientalists. . . writing about Muslims are, by definition, by training, by the mere fact of their Westernness. This is the culmination of Orientalism as a dogma that not only degrades its subject matter but also blinds its practitioners”. Said summarized his work in these terms:- ” my contention is that Orientalism is fundamentally a political doctrine willed over the orient because the orient was weaker than the west, which elided the orient’s difference with its weakness…. as apparatus Orientalism is all aggression a ctivity , judgment , will –to trouth , and knowledge ” (Orientalism, p. 204. )Raymond Schwab in his study of Orientalism he approached Orientalism in his book ” oriental renaissance” as study the past and study of history. His approach was not prejudice and was not mythical. Schwab said that Europe history and past has relations to east if studied correctly and that was how he claimed renaissances and connected romanticism to Orientalism. Schwab discussed a new dimension in his approach he talked about civilized and uncivilized in a religion point of view in which he explained view of east and romance newer. The reason why Great Britain was not the home of oriental renaissance because the employers of east India Company wrote literature that reflected the hostile religious environment the exited in this Britain Company. The writings of these India employers who came from different religious background presented adherent image of real imperial India back then. Romanticism, initiate by the English poets such as Coleridge and Wordsworth, as well as Blake, Keats, Shelley, was concerned mainly in the creative expressions of literature and the arts; however, the philosophy and sentiment characteristic of the Romanticism movement would increase throughout Europe and would finally collision not only the arts and humanities. Romanticism has been associated with Orientalism , however Romanticism has represented emotions, feeling , instinct and intuition . The industrial French revaluation has affected the way of thinking of Europe the spread of Romanticism has been known as Enlightenment. In this case the dominant of spirit, soul, emotion and the absence of power over will has been named as ” Enlightenment” instead of ” orient “. The term of Enlightenment is a product of the industrial French revaluation, however romanticism is not related to Enlightenment, Enlightenment is based on based on since and logic. To add more Romanticism this was created by Coleridge, Shelly, and others has spread in and philosophy, however Romanticism has influenced Europe and affected arts and philosophy in Europe. Finally, my reflection and comments are that all started with superior west and inferior East ” others” that was explained in Coleridge, Shelly and Byron, then Edward came and explained the whole terms from logical views and explained how Arabs were depicted as inferior from colonial view. Schwab on the other hand introduce Romanticism and renaissance while industry French revaluation presented in Enlightenment. Methods and views taught in schools and have its own scholars. The Europeans supposed that the oriental character was lower in morality and contact with them would disintegrate their own high cultural values. This fact makes Edward Said remark that Romantic poetry depict imperialanxieties . In his works, Coleridge connections the East with downer reverie, myth and religion, an exotic and timeless empire. This idea comes through in his poem ‘Kublai Khan’, written as a result of an opium-induced dream which followed his reading of Marco Polo’s account of the Mongol Emperor’s palace. Romantic attitude to the Orient were not simply reactions to opium taking, but had political implications connected with European colonialism. In The Corsair, we discuss the concern about imperialism which began to appear in the British literature he encounter between the colonizers and the colonized was often symbolized in terms of gender and as unsuccessful romance between a European male and an orient list female. The orient list discourse was insecure and anxious. These imperial anxieties are found in Dequincey’s confession that more and more becomes a paranoiac representation of cultural and racial difference.