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1st Takeaway in Module 5 - The West's negative view on a exotic Asia because of Orientalism. 

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1st Takeaway in Module 5 - The West's negative view on a exotic Asia because of Orientalism. 

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In Module 5 one of the key theme was the west's negative perspective on Asia because of orientalism which made America and the west view Asia as exotic and a backward society. In the required reading "A Short History of Asia" Mason explained how the idea of Orientalism was forming where they began viewing Asia as unique, exotic, and behind which led to the interest and negative connotation of their culture and Asia which allowed them to justifying and taking advantage of Asia. Which correlates with Professor Chu's module objective #3. In this I think the West viewed Asia as rural and backwards in their films falsely giving people a terrible depictions of Asia in a "Short History of Asia" Mason would go to explain how these "Film and musical comedy freely adapted from what were, even in their original form, rather inaccurate observation." (Mason 120). This shows how Mason is criticizing the false narrative portrayed in these films about Siam and its king and how it led to a false perspective.

Besides this another example of this false and negative view on Asia was in the required videos "Anna and the King of Siam". Where in the first film they depicted Siam as rural, very exotic, and uncivilized. And you can see this because the King arrived on a elephant, had very little clothes on, they were in a rural area with dirt roads and hut houses. And they also say there are no women in Siam. These things are what makes viewers think of Asia as savage, different, and what could lead to the West thinking they are more civilized and more proper than these other countries. But in the more recent remake Siam looks beautiful, with it beginning on a port with ships, people were working and playing. Showing how later on in time this negative perspective that Asia was not advanced and behind was not true.

Finally in the required reading "Orientalism" by Edward W. Said he claims how "the influence of ideas, of institutions, and of other persons works not through domination but by what Gramsci calls consent. In any society totalitarian, then, certain cultural forms predominates over others, just as certain ideas are more influential than others". (Said 7). What this argued was that the West believed their culture was superior than the Asians, which would only naturally lead to their western culture taking over. This showed how the West would justify enforcing their cultures and how it gave them the rights to take over these Asian countries because to the West they believed their culture was superior.

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2nd takeaway in Module 6- The Brutality of the Khmer Rouge

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2nd takeaway in Module 6- The Brutality of the Khmer Rouge

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In Module 6, one of the key themes I learned from this module is the ideology behind the Khmer Rouge and why they were so brutal. In the required readings the author discuss how the Khmer rouge are brutal and formed from extreme radical ideology. How they were ruthless to their own people in the blind rage against the west. This correlates with Professors Chu's module objective #3. In "A Short History of Asia" Mason would give insight on why such massacre happened from the Khmer Rouge as he would explain "Mass killings, justified as 'class struggle', destroyed 20 percent of the Cambodian people". (Mason 317) Showing how the ruthless the Khmer Rouge were, trying to justify their murders of over a million people and how radical they were.

Another way Mason explains their ideology of the Khmer rouge, in the book Mason explains how "In an echo of China's 'Great Leap Forward' Cambodians were driven to 12 hour work days in the interest of a Four Year Plan for the economy that had little hope of realization. Many more people died of overwork and malnutrition." (Mason 317). This showed how the Khmer Rouge was just influenced by the Chinese communist regime and how they followed the harsh living standards as the Chinese.

And finally in the movie "First They Killed my Father" There was a scene where Pol Pot was explaining how they must get rid of their belonging, how the belongings were poison by the west and how they must cleanse themselves. This shows that the Khmer Rouge were pro-west, this hatred could have formed from what we learned in previous modules where the U.S. and other western countries took over Asia and colonized. And the Opium war could have an effect because Cambodia at the time was heavily influenced by China.

Refernece

Mason, C. (2014). A short history of Asia. Palgrave Macmillan.

First They Killed my Father 2017 by Angelina Jolie

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3rd Takeaway in Module 7- How America's Dominance in Asia led to a New Empire.

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3rd Takeaway in Module 7- How America's Dominance in Asia led to a New Empire.

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In Module 7 the key thing I took away was that America's success in imperialism in Asia ultimately led to the global recognization of the US as the strongest empire. In the required readings Mason would go on to explain how America overtime would control Asia which would lead to their growth as a nation till eventually the strongest nation in the world. This would correlate to Professor Chu's module objective #5.

To start off in the book "A Short History of Asia" Mason explains how "The civilian population, looted and oppressed by lawless elements of Aguinaldo's army, suffered the most. Death exceeded 100,000. The war ended with Aguinaldo's capture in 1901 and acceptance of US rule. It cost the lives of 4200 Americans." (Mason 289) What this signifies shows how the rebels were ruthless towards their own people and how the US put great effort to end this revolution costing thousands of US Soldiers which in the end led to victory. What this could have resulted was the acceptance of the US after they destroyed a regime that was oppressive towards the people which for America allowing them to succeed in the Philippines. This also showed the strength of the US being able to crush a rebellion in their own hometown.

Finally in the required viewing "American Imperialism : Crash Course US History #28" He would explain how after winning the Spanish War, America gained territory over the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. This was significant because Guam and Philippines allowed access to China and trade. After that Philippines realized America was not giving them independence where America would then fight for 4 years and it resulted in the death of 100,000 Filipinos. What this shows is how America took over Pacific Asia which resulted in them having access to more resources and allowing them to have economic growth. This led to the realization that America is not only a weapon power house but also a economic power house. Showing how they are ultimately the strongest Empire.

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The movie we watched in this unit was "First They Killed My Father" I feel like this movie explained the tragedies and ideology of the Khmer rouge very well one example where they explained the ideology was when the family were walking to a camp and the soldiers said "There is no more individualism, here we are one." They would then cut their hair the same way, dye their clothes black, barely have anything to eat. Showing how they wanted to be a unified country and how nobody was more important than the other. The way they showed the tragedies was in a scene where Luang went to see her sister with her mom and this is where they would see countless body, adults and children before reaching their sibling. This show how tragic this time period was where kids were dying at an alarming rate.

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Question - What would Asia look like without Western Influence? Would it be United?

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Question - What would Asia look like without Western Influence? Would it be United?

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I think it could've been more peaceful, maybe tragedies such as the Khmer Rouge and the Great Leap Forward wouldn't have happened.

I think you professor would say it is impossible to tell but looking at Asia's past history it is impossible for them to be united and coincide with one another.

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Current News-CFP: Hong Kong, China, and New Orientalisms, Graduate Workshop, HKU, online, 14-16 November 2024

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Current News-CFP: Hong Kong, China, and New Orientalisms, Graduate Workshop, HKU, online, 14-16 November 2024

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A article I found from network.org is

CFP: Hong Kong, China, and New Orientalisms, graduate workshop, HKU, online, 14-16 November 2024. H. (n.d.-a). https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20041561/cfp-hong-kong-china-and-new-orientalisms-graduate-workshop-hku-online

1. Goes into depth about how China is one the global powerhouse when it comes to economy and military, yet it is and still is under minded when it comes to political relations and this could be traced back to ancient time where the west has always thought little of China.

2. I picked this because it relates to the Idea of orientalism where they neglect and have a backwards opinion on Asia.

3. The author's purpose was to show how even though we progressed in many aspect of society, Asia is still viewed lower than these western countries and how this has been a common pattern throughout history.

4. It still shocks me how nothing has changed, and how I am guilty of this idea too. Being born in the west and when I hear about powerful countries I think of America, Britain, France but I tend to forget about China, Russia, and Japan.