Thread With all the talk around the ‘westernisation’ of Maulana Rumi, I want to revisit Edward Said’s ground-breaking ‘Orientalism’, which received a lot of flack, as does anything that attempts to unravel the guileful monstrous web that is colonialism, and its aftermath. (1/n)

It was perhaps the most mind-shattering pieces I’ve ever read, and truly made me feel angry and enlightened all at the same time. How colonial power relations continue to exist is truly intricate. (2/n) Let's begin!

The western world attempted to simplify the existence of the East (mainly the Middle East) by dividing the world into what is “ours” and “theirs”, the ‘Occident’ (Europe, America later) and the ‘Orient’. (3/n)

This wasn’t to simply divide the world on geographical lines, but to define the very way the ‘Orient’ was to be perceived. To carve out, a fabricated 'truth' the European world was WILLING to believe. (4/n)

“The Other”-ing comes Jacques Lacan’s terminology of ‘‘the mirror stage of development.’ which infants supposedly pass through, where they identify the self by seeing their reflection in someone like an adult, who is like them, but not them. (5/n)

In this case, the baby being the European world, constantly interacting with the Eastern world, yet defining boundaries. But how does it work? (6/n)

He begins to talk of academic pedagogy, and points out how anyone who read, wrote about the Orient took a Eurocentric, and hence, biased approach. They made sweeping generalisations, projecting the Orients as lazy, uncouth, violent beings who were, also, exotic. (7/n)

Examples of this can be seen in the representation of the ‘Orient’, think of all the paintings from 19th century: The Arabs were mysterious beings, living in beastly ways, surrounded by belly dancers, acting irrationally and violently. (8/n)

Here’s a painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Notice what makes the white naked woman “acceptable”, she is surrounded by: Peacock feathers, “harem” like setting, Turkish iconography. The 'us' dipped in a bit of 'them' (9/n)

Belly dancing wasn’t an art form, it was sexualised, it was something to look down upon, yet be fascinated by. In ways, the Orient became the forbidden fruit. This continues to permeate pop-culture today as well, the examples...are every-where. (10/n)

I remember some episodes of Popeye which made me feel less than innocent as a child. For what reason? i don't know. Was it the colour pallette? The music? The mystery around the characters? (11/n)

But what purpose did it serve? Well, Orientalism was a way to establish the Western world as superior. To make the western players believe that, yes, a world outside does exist, but surely it is uncivilised, immoral, filled with debauchery. (12/n)

Everything that the western world wasn’t. It was filled with fantasies, but ones that the western world learnt to control. Did the Orient agree to this classification? No. Did this rid the West of its guilty conscience? Perhaps. Does it continue to do so today? Likely. (13/n)

With poor translations like those of Rumi’s poems, the argument cannot be that it is “easier to understand”. Why is it easier to understand? Because the Islamic imagery is difficult to associate with something well-meaning? (14/n)

The problem is that it is stripped off its original essence, its original metaphors, its imagery, which to the poet was pure, but has been projected as corrupt and uncivilised in ways today. (15/n)

Said pointed out how over the years scholars have opted for a more liberal approach, citing works by Massignon and Gibb. But said that they continue to propagate biased perceptions. (16/n)

The main idea is to establish Islam as an inferior religion, the middle-eastern world as problematic, one that needs saving. (17/n)

Stereotyping, washing cultures of their individuality allows for the group to be viewed as less-human. At some point, we have to begin to reclaim our identities. The Arab world is more than oil and sex, the Indians more than Ayurveda, the Chinese more than food. (18/n)

This is perhaps why #Ertugrul is also so refreshing: For once the Islamic group is not evil. They have hearts. They have emotions. But that's probably my bias too. Truly love the show/ (n/n)