Occidentalism The West in the eyes of the East Essays

Occidentalism In Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalits book, Occidentalism: The West in the eyes of the East, they set out to solve the fueling force that drives the enemies of America and the Western world. This hatred spans back to the times of industrialization in the east, causing hatred to erupt from the peoples of Asian nationalities, and continues up to present day with Al-Qaeda and the terrorist attacks. Buruma and Margalit trace the roots of Occidentalism back to Germany, China, Japan and Russia. Japan used Westernization to keep up with the world and then turned their backs on it. Their goal was to overcome the West, and be modern while at the same time returning to an idealized spiritual past (Margalit 4). Because of†¦show more content†¦They failed to give as clear of a description about why they hate us in todays world. The authors have shown the changes throughout history that have shaped their current thoughts and perceptions but they have not explained why they still think that way. This book is good for learning about the history of Occidentalism but is lacking in the fact of showing clear reasons why occidentalists would hate us in the 21st century. It does not give a clear-cut reason as why incidents like 9-11 and the hostage beheadings would happen in the twenty-first century. This leaves the reader wanting more information and having a place to go to find it . The only other possibility for hating us that is mentioned does not involve Occidentalism. The other option is that the individuals have gained their ideas from the Muslim tawhid. The tawhid is closely related to the idea jihiliyya and radical Islamist thinking. The tawhid means Unity of God and can be interpreted in multiple ways. Muhammed Iqbal gained his ideas of politics from the tawhid and is considered to be a `tawhid thinker. Iqbal believed that the Unity of God should be mirrored in the unity and harmony of human society, based on justice, equality, and solidarity (123). Based on these ideas, the individual critiques the West in his own opinion. Iqbal critiqued the economic explosion in the West. The difference between Occidentalism and Iqbals critiques is that Iqbal does notShow MoreRelatedOrientalism in Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North2758 Words   |  12 Pagesthe North, just as far as the west is engendered through refinement and order, so too has Mustafa Sa’eed subsumed the clichà ©s of barbarism. One of the questions that Salih seems to be asking is: if Orientalism is a western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient, can the Orient use this same dichotomy, in turn, to assert power over its European â€Å"masters†. In a discussion of the â€Å"boundless historical chasm,† separating the east and west, Mustafa Sa’eed forewarns, â€Å"IRead MoreEssay on Hong Kong Post-colonial Cinema4693 Words   |  19 Pagesconnection to its Motherland, while at the same time, has frequent contact with the Western world, politically, economically, and culturally. Hong Kong’s unique position has made the city a vibrant international metropolis that acts as a bridge between East and West. Yet after it was returned to China in 1997, this former British colony has been constantly reassessing its British past, struggling to find its new position and redefining its ide ntity. The quest for identity quickly finds its place in theRead MoreAnalysis Of S Americanah Through A Post Colonial Prism4297 Words   |  18 PagesMarxist critic Frederic Jameson once described every instance of â€Å"third world literature† as necessarily nationally allegorical (69), an assertion spectacularly assailed by Aijaz Ahmad (77-82). But it is possible to close our eyes to Ahmad’s very valid misgivings and take a bird’s eye view of Jameson’s assertion: read in reaction to the phenomenon of imperialism, perhaps the literature of dominated peoples is the literature of self-assertion, however blind to Jameson’s national allegorical (or anticolonial)