Glossary Entries on Orientalism and Othering

Orientalism:

A term coined by Edward Said in his book Orientalism (1978). He drew inspiration for his theory of orientalism from Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony and Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse. The term is used to describe how Europeans portray Asians as being inferior, uncivilised and excluded from social norms. He also simultaneously stated that the term could be used when describing Europeans as the orient’s opposite – superior, civilised and people who comply with social norms.

In Said’s book, he refers to a quote from Karl Marx’s book The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852): “They cannot represent themselves: they must be represented.” Said uses this quote to refer to orientalism as a discourse of misrepresentation. Orientalism does not occur due to ignorance or a lack of knowledge – it is the opposite. Said refers to orientalism as a form of “knowledge” that has been historically created and enabled through the dominance of power that the Western world has over the East. This power is widely controlled by those in positions of power, including government officials, the media industry, religious figures, etc. Power governs discourse and is governed by discourse simultaneously. Said states that: “knowledge of the Orient, because generated out of strength, in a sense creates the Orient, the Oriental, and his world”.

The actual term ‘orient’ refers to the countries in the Eastern world, in particular East Asia. So, the word refers to the characteristics of Eastern people. In this instance, the orient is fabricated by those in positions of power in the Western world. This consequently distorts the true representation of the Eastern world from the perception fabricated by those in positions of power in the Western world. This encourages people residing in the Western world to form exaggerated perceptions on the cultural and religious differences of Eastern people. Subsequently, this influences them to associate Eastern people with certain negative stereotypes. This includes being exotic and bizarre, or worse, a threat to Western people and their culture.

The term ‘orientalism’ is also used by Eastern people to describe the type of racism they experience. This is a result of the fact that the term encapsulates how their ethnicity, culture and religion is so often misrepresented and reduced to stereotypes by the Western world. The term also helps Eastern people understand how these discriminative views cause their culture to be misunderstood and humanity overlooked.

Othering:

A term first coined as a systemic theory by Gayatri Spivak in her essay ‘The Rani of Sirmur: an essay in reading the archives’ published in the book History and Theory (1985). She drew inspiration for her notion of othering from several theories, but most significantly from Georg Hegel’s master-slave dialectic.

Othering is constructed when humanity is categorised into two groups – the dominant and the subordinate. Members of dominant groups are in a position of privilege and power to influence others. This results from the fact that they are valued and recognised by society as the norm. Members of subordinate groups are devalued, marginalised and recognised by society as the other – which is where othering occurs. Spivak also identifies further dimensions of othering that focus on the relationship between the dominant and the subordinate.

Spivak discusses othering in relation to power structure. This occurs when the dominant refers to the subordinate as the other and makes them aware that they are inferior and that the dominant holds power over them. Spivak also refers to an example where this occurred, which was when Britain had colonial power over India. She states that: “He is actually engaged in consolidating the self of Europe by obliging the native to cathect the space of the Other on his home ground.” The term also refers to the consideration that people who are classed as the other are morally inferior and pathological. Spivak states that othering is also about “imperialism”, particularly as it suggests that knowledge, resources and technology belong to the dominant empirical self, not the colonial other.

The process of othering occurs as a result of social categorisation. In Spivak’s essay, she refers to several categories where this occurs, including class, race and gender. She also describes othering as a multidimensional process. This is due to the fact that it covers various forms of social differentiation, and that the notion of othering can therefore be combined with what was later coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw as the theory of intersectionality.

The concept of othering has also been employed through the works of other theoretical studies. For instance, Edward Said referred to the concept of the “Other” in his books Covering Islam (1981), Orientalism (1978) and The question of Palestine (1979). In his work, Said refers to othering in the context of his theory of orientalism. He employs the term when deconstructing Western attitudes towards Eastern people. Said believes that Western people create a prejudice image about Eastern people and regards them as the other.

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