Occidentalism, the redefinition of a concept in the discourse of international culture

Résumé du document

Occidentalism can exist and develop only in relation to its pre-existing coefficient, orientalism” . Indeed, there exists a dichotomy between these two concepts. It refers to the description of the World and its organization. Therefore, an analysis of the meaningful concept of “Occidentalism” cannot occur without the consideration of its complementary and pre-established component: “Orientalism”. The concept of Orientalism has predated the Occidentalism one. Occidentalism has been constructed as a consequence of the creation of Orientalism. It appeared as a reflect of the definition of the orient. The concept of Orientalism has been studied intensively and its apparition has been the object of lots of questions. Effectively, the creation of such a notion has changed the organization of the world and the nature of the relations between countries. Thus, realizing the existence of an Occident concept, the modernized World needs to define it. Looking for the etymology of the concept is necessary in order to understand the real content. From oc (forward) and cidere (drop), the word ‘Occident' refers to the idea of an improvement, a march. Several attempts have been started to define the concept of Occidentalism, but they all met the same difficulties: the dependency to the concept of “Orientalism” and the impossible neutrality.

Extraits

[...] This is why “Occidentalism becomes dangerous when it is harnessed to political power” Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit, Ocidentalism: The West in the eyes of its enemies. The Penguin Press New York Indeed, as Occidentalism is a subjective concept (as we have seen earlier), the justification of an intervention in the name of an apparent valuable cause can be completely unjustified and beyond understanding for another approach. The entire image of the West that one can have is revealed through the words employed for the description of ‘Occidentalism‘. [...]

[...] For them, the values of the other cultures were meaningless. Furthermore, sometimes even the humanity of the people has been put in doubt. For example during the Valladolid Conference, the Christian Church was trying to figure out if Indian people recently discovered in America had a soul www.history.unimelb.edu.au/staff/personal/Horvath/humanrights.html. That meant that the humanity of people from another culture was not obvious for the Europeans. This experience revealed a lot about the subjectivity of cultures. A norm in one culture could appear as insignificant in another one. [...]

[...] Indeed, Foucault focuses on the specific usage of words in a statement. This author emphasizes on the meaningful power of discourse. The entire consistency of a statement concerning the concept of Occidentalism relies on the choice of the words used to describe it. In truth, unity is based on the construction of discourse. Therefore, through the authors, concepts, theories and themes, one can sustain valuable points concerning its own vision of Occidentalism. For instance, following a particular consideration of the Occident by the Middle East countries, some can argue that “Occidentalism cannot be reduced to a Middle Eastern sickness anymore” Ibid Using the word ‘sickness' reveals what is the perception of the concept of Occidentalism. [...]

[...] Because each human being is involved in this distinction, none of us is able to give a definition that is not pre-determined or influenced by a certain perception and culture. Hanafi admits completely this idea: “Said's conception of Orientalism if ambivalent was more neutral”Ibid . This could be explained by the fact that the concept of Orientalism appeared and has been accepted before the Occidentalism one. Indeed, Occidentalism appeared in exchange to the creation of Orient that the Westerners needed to create their own identity. [...]

[...] It refers to the description of the World and its organization. Therefore, an analysis of the meaningful concept of “Occidentalism” cannot occur without the consideration of its complementary and pre-established component: “Orientalism”. The concept of Orientalism has predated the Occidentalism one. Occidentalism has been constructed as a consequence of the creation of Orientalism. It appeared as a reflect of the definition of the orient. The concept of Orientalism has been studied intensively and its apparition has been the object of lots of questions. [...]