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Reflection on Fahrenheit 451 and comparing between the non-literary texts -Fahrenheit 451 and the film Equilibrium 

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Reflection on Fahrenheit 451 and comparing between the non-literary texts -Fahrenheit 451 and the film Equilibrium 

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Connecting similar issues explored in the two texts

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Connecting similar issues explored in the two texts

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This is a graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi

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A book based on feminism -written by Nivedita Menon

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Comparative analysis of The World's Wife and Persepolis

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Comparative analysis of The World's Wife and Persepolis

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Characteristics of characters in A Doll's House

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Characteristics of characters in A Doll's House

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Analyzing how women are represented stronger than men in A Doll's House

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Analyzing how women are represented stronger than men in A Doll's House

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Edward Said is an internationally-known literary and cultural critic. He is most famous for his book 'Orientalism' (1978). In this book, he discusses that the historical and long-term distortion of the East, even of the method of looking, so thoroughly permeated Western thinking, writing, and importantly, academic enterprise that it resulted in "Cultural Colonization", providing Western justification for the political, military and cultural actions in the East. Here is a brief summary of Orientalism by Edward Said.

Orientalism's Definition: What is Orientalism?

'Orientalism is the academic study, or acquisition of knowledge, of the Orient, with a pedigree going back at least to the fourteenth century as people from the West traveled and sought to understand the Orient. Primarily for Said, this means Europeans travelling to the Middle East. Generation after generation of Europeans, and more lately those from the USA, travelled to 'the Orient' to study and know it better.

Edward Said defines Orientalism as an academic discipline only emerged with colonial occupations of the Middle East and India by Western powers. This academic discipline, in Said's view, was primarily an expression of colonial domination.

A Complex Relation Between Power and Knowledge

Following Michel Foucault, Said writes about a complex relation between knowledge and power. Knowledge of the Orient compels 'Orientalists' (those whose profession is to study the 'Orient') to seek power and domination over the Orient, especially through colonial rule. For example, the British justified colonial rule in Egypt by saying that they 'knew' Egypt, they knew about its history, its society, and therefore what it needed at that point in its development.

Evaluating whether Orientalist analysis is right is, therefore, more important than for the average academic pursuit because of the way in which its conclusions carry over into the world outside. It is important to ask whether power, colonialism in its extreme form, has been exercised over a certain area of the world because of suspect theory.

Said's answer to the question is that it has. Orientalism is a fallacy that is created and sustained by unquestioning repetition over a long period of time. It divides and categorizes the world and parts of it into neat compartments for systematic analysis. But Said worries that this is not a genuine quest for understanding. Europeans had always feared the Orient. So, the systematization of knowledge of the Orient is an intellectual means by which people transform it from something unknown and, therefore, threatening into something known and therefore tame. The Orient of the Orientalists is a romanticized figment of their imaginations, squeezed into easily-understandable frameworks.

Examples of Orientalism by Edward Said

Westerners, for example, could not properly understand Islam since it was not their religion. So, they saw it as an Eastern equivalent of Christianity. They made simple parallels between the two, such as the equation of Muhammad with Christ. It was a false notion because Muhammad did not make similar claims to those made by Jesus. Moreover, since they saw the two religions as equivalents, in the Orientalists' mind, Islam necessarily became inferior. This is because it could not be true, in the way that Christianity self-evidently was to them. This is a microcosm of the entire study of the Orient. In comparison to the West, it was at best inferior, at worst plain wrong.

Read: Edward Said's Orientalism: Definition, Summary & Analysis

The Im pact of Orientalist Study on Orientalism

Over time, Orientalist study came to have great authority. Partly this was because it seemed to work. People went to the Orient armed with the latest studies, and their findings appeared corroborated by experience. But it was also because, in the face of Western power, Oriental people were silent and could not counter it. Instead the work of the Orientalist was repeated over and over establishing a unified narrative. It was a definitive account of the truth, which went unchallenged. Orientalists did not challenge it because they had no interest in challenging it. Moreover, it was also not challenged by Orientals, because they were powerless to do so. So, instead of Western knowledge becoming more and more refined, only Western ignorance and prejudice became so.

Edward Said's Point of View on Orientalism

Edward Said in Orientalism further says that he is not against the study of one culture by another, but worries instead about the power relationship between the student and the studied. Moreover, he also worries about the method of reduction used by the student. With regard to the power relationship, Said makes a good point, though perhaps takes it too far, and lays the blame too quickly at the feet of the Orientalist. Certainly we should make strenuous efforts to listen to quieter voices, but the lack of genuine voices from the Orient may have more to do with unwillingness of those in the Orient to speak to or write for the West, rather than an unwillingness of the West to listen.

As for Said's critique of Orientalist methodology, it leaves us wondering whether one can pursue the academic inquiry without falling foul of Said's watchful eyes. All academic study is in some senses reductive. But this systematic method of study has led to extraordinary advances in human knowledge and understanding.

Edward Said further says that in the West, not all academic and theoretical discourse has to be Orientalist in its intent, yet much of it is. He argues that all cultures have a distinct view of other cultures that may be harmless and exotic to some extent. But it is not of this view that he argues against. When a militarily and economically dominant culture, he says, takes this view against another one, then it can lead to disastrous results.

Read: Various Flaws and Weaknesses in Edward Said's Orientalism

Said's Views on the Depiction of 'East' as 'Other' by Some Western Figures

Edward Said also draws on the historical commentary (both written as well as spoken) by Western figures such as Napoleon Chaucer, Arthur James Balfour, Dante, Byron, Shakespeare, Henry Kissinger, and others. He says that all of them have portrayed the 'East' in their writings as 'other' and, therefore, 'inferior.' He also calls on several European studies of the region by Orientalists. Among these studies include the Bibliotheque Orientale by French author Barthelemy d'Herbelot de Molainville. Through this orientalist study, Said illustrates the depth of Orientalist discourse in European society and in their literary, academic, and political interiors. The most appropriate representation Said gives in this regard is a poem by Victor Hugo titled which he wrote for Napoleon:

Development and Characteristics of Orientalism

Edward Said in his book also explains the development of orientalism. He further explains how the Orientals began considering the Orientals as 'other' and 'inferior'. He says that instead of the actual facts, it is the imagined constructs that generated the knowledge about the Orient. These constructs imagined the 'Eastern' societies as being all fundamentally similar. That is, all sharing crucial characteristics that the 'Western' societies don't possess. Thus, this theoretical and conceptual knowledge set up the East as the opposite of the West. Said goes on to say that it is the literary texts and historical records that construct such knowledge. This is because such texts and records are often limited in terms of their understanding of life in the Middle East.

The concept of 'ours' and 'theirs' divided the world into two parts. Then, an imaginary geographical line was drawn to describe what was ours and what was theirs. The people of the East were considered uncivilized and uncultured. The westerners called themselves the refined race and suggested that it was their duty to civilize and polish these people. Moreover, in order to achieve their goal, they had to colonize and rule the orients. They further claimed that since the orients themselves were incapable of running their own government, they had to do so.

For the Europeans, the most significant use of orientalism was that they began to define themselves by defining the Orientals. For example, they related such qualities as irrational, lazy, uncivilized, crudeness to the Orientals. Whereas, the Europeans automatically became rational, active, civilized, and sophisticated. Thus, to succeed in their goal, it was obligatory for the orientalists to generalize the Orientals' culture.

Edward Said's Project in Orientalism

In his book, Said questions the underlying assumptions that are the basis of the foundation of Orientalist thinking. Said suggests the use of 'narrative' instead of 'vision' in interpreting the geographical landscape, the Orient. It means that a historian and a scholar should not turn to a panoramic view of half of the globe. Rather, they should turn to a focused and complex type of history that allows space for the dynamic variety of human experience. He further clears that the rejection of Orientalist thinking does not necessitate a denial of the differences between 'the Orient' and 'the West'. However, it entails an evolution of such differences in a more critical and objective manner.

In Said's view, the 'Orient' can't be studied in a non-Orientalist manner. Rather, it is necessary for the scholar to study more focused and smaller culturally consistent regions. The Oriental must have a voice, it must speak for itself. The second-hand representation of the Orient, in Said's view, must take a back seat. Besides, it must give way to the narrative and self-representation on the part of the 'Oriental.'

Edward Said brings to light the mechanics of how knowledge interacts with power. His views have a particular lasting influence on what is now said and written about the 'post-colonial' world.

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Summary of Orientalism by Edward Said | Elif Notes

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This article contains a detailed summary of Orientalism by Edward Said, including examples of Orientalism & Edward Said's Orientalism quotes

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Shirin Neshat is a contemporary Iranian visual artist best known for her work in photography, video, and film (such as her 1999 film Rapture),which explore the relationship between women and the religious and cultural value systems of Islam. She has said that she hopes the viewers of her work "take away with them not some heavy political statement, but something that really touches them on the most emotional level." Born on March 26, 1957 in Qazin, Iran, she left to study in the United States at the University of California at Berkeley before her the Iranian Revolution in 1979. While her early photographs were overtly political, her film narratives tend to be more abstract, focusing around themes of gender, identity, and society. Her Women of Allah series, created in the mid-1990s, introduced themes of the discrepancies of public and private identities in both Iranian and Western cultures. The split-screened video Turbulent (1998) won Neshat the First International Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1999. The artist currently lives and works in New York, NY. Her works are included in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, among others.

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Shirin Neshat is a contemporary Iranian visual artist best known for her work in photography, video, and film (such as her 1999 film Rapture),which explore the relationship between women and the religious and cultural value systems of Islam. View Shirin Neshat's 931 artworks on artnet.

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Analysis of the above advert "Train her to be an ideal housewife "

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Analysis of the above advert "Train her to be an ideal housewife "

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Paper 1- rhetorical appeas, advert, essay format (2)

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Notion – The all-in-one workspace for your notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.

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A new tool that blends your everyday work apps into one. It’s the all-in-one workspace for you and your team

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Notion – The all-in-one workspace for your notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.

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A new tool that blends your everyday work apps into one. It’s the all-in-one workspace for you and your team

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This year's Nobel Prize for economics was awarded to Claudia Goldin for drawing attention to gender gaps in economic activity. In few developing country regions are these gaps more pronounced than in South Asia.

In the past two decades, South Asian women have continued to catch up with men in educational attainment. They are having fewer children, which has freed them up to work outside the home. South Asian countries have also passed laws aimed at improving employment opportunities for women.

And yet their participation in labor markets has remained low. Just 25 percent of South Asia's working-age women were in the labor force in 2021-about half the average among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). About 40 percent of young women in South Asia are not employed, in school, or receiving professional training-about three times the corresponding share among young men.

The arguments for why women need to participate in the labor market are well-established. Families where women are more economically empowered tend to invest more in their children and women's participation can raise productivity. When men are over-represented among breadwinners, entrepreneurs and high-earners and women comprise the majority of homemakers talent is misallocated and growth suffers.

Women's low labor market participation risks wasting the demographic dividend from South Asia's still growing working-age population. By one estimate, South Asia's long-term sustainable growth in the rest of this decade could be boosted by as much as one percentage point a year if female labor force participation were raised to the EMDE average. Another estimate suggests that South Asia's GDP per capita could rise 19-58 percent in the long-term if women's employment was equal to that of men.

So, why have women not joined the labor market in greater numbers?

Dr. Poonam Gupta, Director General of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, recently points to many pieces that are currently missing in most South Asian countries: a care economy that caters to children and the elderly, safe transport and workplaces, women in leadership positions and the police force, economic and tax incentives, jobs that would allow women to return to the labor market after children are older, and an education system that promotes gender equality. Education gaps and limited access to finance and other inputs are also missing pieces. Indeed, many of these measures rank high in a recent World Bank assessment of interventions aimed at boosting female labor force participation. Comprehensive, multi-pronged approaches dealing with supply side barriers to women's employment have shown to be effective.

But on their own, these measures are unlike to be sufficient. Two complementary factors are needed to catalyze women's economic empowerment. First, boosting job creation is vital to ensure women can thrive in current and future labor markets. Second, changing mindsets, behaviors, and attitudes around women's work is key to improving women's employment outcomes in a sustained manner.

Faster output growth would boost job creation, including for women. In the 2010s, South Asian employment growth has averaged around 1 percent per year-about one-third less than the rate of working age population growth. India is no exception. Faced with a challenging labor market, both male and female labor force participation rates have declined in India since 2010. Accelerating economic growth in the next decade could be key to turn this around.

That said, the type of growth matters for job creation, too. The export-oriented sectors-sectors in which firms face stiff competition in their product markets-tend to be more gender-equal. More open trade and competition policies would not only boost output and productivity growth, but also favor greater gender equity. Indeed, Bangladesh's garment sector is a clear example of a light manufacturing-driven growth process that has attracted millions of women into the labor force. Similarly, the rise of the business, processing, and outsourcing industry in India attracted millions of women into the workforce and encouraged them to remain engaged in the labor market throughout their lifetime. Similar examples can be found in Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Social norms are tougher to change, but some interventions have been shown to be effective. These include mandated hiring policies (such as quotas), political reservations including in village councils, public works and employment guarantees, classroom discussions, community discussions, and efforts to lower search and match costs. But, for financially constrained governments, the fiscal cost of scaling up some of these measures needs to be carefully weighed against their likely benefits.

Poor job prospects and negative attitudes towards women's work outside the home can interact in ways that deter women's participation in labor markets. For example, when jobs are scarce, social norms, rather than productivity, may determine labor market outcomes. According to the World Value Survey, a large majority of people in South Asia agree that "when jobs are scarce, men have more right to a job than women". This majority has increased over the past decade in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

A comprehensive package of measures is therefore needed to draw more women into South Asia's labor markets. This package will need to include greater economic dynamism that creates jobs as well as shifts in mindsets and the removal of obstacles to women's participation. This is challenging work, and progress will not necessarily be steady and gradual. But increasing female labor force participation in South Asia is a challenge that all economies must rise to meet-their future success depends on it.
The author is the World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region
This article first appeared in The Financial Express (India) on November 25, 2023.

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'South Asia Needs More Women in the Workforce'

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This year’s Nobel Prize for economics was awarded to Claudia Goldin for drawing attention to gender gaps in economic activity. In few developing country regions are these gaps more pronounced than in South Asia.

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Taiye Selasi: Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local | TED

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"Revisiting The Dinner Party: Why It's Important Now" with Judy Chicago and Diane Gelon

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Margaret Atwood on THE TRUTH in The Handmaid's Tale