Images in the Visual Media Consistently Misrepresent Non-Western Culture - Literature review Example

Images in the visual media consistently misrepresent non-western cultures Despite the attractiveness ofhyper-reality and the wide-spread belief that all experiences can be appreciated virtually, there is plenty of precedent indicating that this is not so. Life cannot be understood or lived solely by what is contained in the available media, even when that media is as full-coverage and real-time as the internet and satellite live broadcasts claim to be. Danger exists in the idea that the definition provided in the media of a given situation or group of people and the authority thus created provides the only definition by which we can know something. Orientalism, as it was known by Napoleon, was based on just such knowledge – that is knowledge about the Orient projected upon it by the Western world. This idea of the Orient, as it was expressed among the Western scholars – overrode the true Orient. Observers entering the true Orient were already convinced of what they knew regarding an unchanging and already defined system, locking everything labeled Orient into a passive, unresisting object for study. Comparable linguistics were the basis for many of these assumptions. This had, and continues to have, a negative effect upon the Western world’s perception, understanding and appreciation of a multitude of cultures that were erroneously grouped into a single identity. To understand how images in the visual media consistently misrepresent non-western cultures, it is necessary to understand the theories of Edward Said, who first explored the idea of Orientalism, as well as to take a look into some recent examples of these concepts at work. The introduction to Edward Said’s book Orientalism is essentially an argument in three parts illustrating the various means he plans to use in order to support the key arguments he makes in the remainder of the book; namely, to first show how the Orient has become something that is not a “free subject of thought or action” through the more imaginary concept of Orientalism and second to demonstrate how the “European culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self” (Said, 1979, p. 3). Opening with an argument regarding the use of the term Orientalism, Said makes three observations. The first one centers on the idea that the term ‘Orient’ refers not to the truth of the region, but rather to an idea that has been developed in the minds of Europeans that tends to group all individuals of the Middle East and East as belonging to a single cultural and religious sector. Although not based on actual truth, this concept is naturally present in the European culture in the form of academic and other social institutions, the established vocabulary, the imagery utilized and the colonial styles. Secondly, ‘the Orient’ has been established as the Other, allowing the Europeans to define themselves as a colonizing country against the inferior culture they had themselves defined. Finally, building off of the ideas proposed by Michel Foucault, these distinctions made between Orient and Occident as well as the vocabulary, imagery and other sanctioned discussion and instruction regarding it, has confined the Orient, making it impossible for Europeans to consider the Orient without finding it necessary to first actively combat these limitations on thought or action. These concepts can be traced in the ways in which the Muslim society, and Iraqi people as a whole, has been portrayed in the media, especially since the Twin Towers were attacked in New York on September 11, 2001. The people of the Middle East have continuously been portrayed as either threatening or inferior in some way to those of Western cultures. For example, in Figure 1 (below), a large group of Hajj pilgrims are pictured at their prayers in a feature story regarding their protest on the timing of Saddam’s execution on the first of one of their holy days. The title of the story is “Hanging angers Arab hajj pilgrims” but the picture is taken from far above the crowd and provides little detail as to what is actually happening within the crowd. The resulting impression is not of an angry crowd, but rather of a large group of rather passive sheep as the mass of white clad backs bent in reverent prayer becomes the most visible object. Figure 1: Hajj pilgrims at prayer Source: “Hanging angers Arab hajj pilgrims.” (31 December, 2006). CNN. Available 4 January 2007 from: By contrast, Figure 2 illustrates the same story covered by the Iraqi Al-Jezeera network. This image, though, shows a more active, humanistic viewpoint that focuses on the emotions of the people involved. The photo captures a traditional stone-throwing ritual from a human height. The man in the forefront has just released his stone, leaving his hand as the foremost element and his hand still shaped into something of a claw. This sensitive approach to the illustration shows both the reverence of this individual for his faith as well as the potential for this individual to raise his hand in anger toward those who have determined to ignore his culture and beliefs. Figure 2: Hajj pilgrims Source: “Saddam execution angers pilgrims.” (30 December 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 7 January 2007 from: < http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3.htm?FRAMELESS=true&NRNODEGUID=%7bC8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3%7d> A look into the way in which former Iraq leader Saddam Hussein is portrayed from one media context to another provides a comparative view of Said’s concepts in action. In the West, images of Saddam captured during his recent trial indicate a man who is continuously shown in a negative light. In Figure 3 (below), an international news organization portrays Saddam as incredibly angry, demanding and unrepentant. His finger is pointing toward the camera and his contorted facial expressions give the impression that he is accusing rather than listening while his open mouth emphasizes the impression that he is giving his own lecture. Because of the superior assumptions made by many in the Western culture, this posture takes on an additional negative overtone as no one likes to be chastised by their inferiors. All of these assumptions are made with the image alone before any text is read, yet this is the image selected to illustrate a story regarding Saddam’s then-upcoming execution. Figure 3: Saddams execution pending Source: “US Officials: Hussein execution this weekend.” (29 December, 2006). CNN. Available 4 January 2007 from: Figure 4, on the other hand, shows a much more thoughtful and intelligent man sitting calmly at his trial and studiously attending to the proceedings. In this image taken from the Al-Jezeera network, Saddam is seen wearing glasses, looking down and wearing an expression of concentration. He is calm and composed, representing an almost different man from the one pictured in the American media. While it is true that the two images were taken at different points in the trial, during which the attitude of the former leader might have changed, it is equally true that photographers on both sides had numerous options for images throughout the course of either trial date. The significance is in the choices made by these photographers and their organizations in the visual messages sent. Figure 4: Saddam at trial Source: “Saddam appears in genocide trial.” (6 December, 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 4 January 2007 from: Coverage of the execution of Saddam also differed from one media organization to another. While the Western-oriented news organization CNN covered the event in terms of a celebration and a final solution, the Al-Jezeera network covered a broader scope of issues surrounding the hanging and its timing as well as portrayed Saddam’s final moments in a more sympathetic light. CNN touched on issues such as custody control and cooperative relations with the new Iraqi government, Al-Jezeera covered perhaps more disturbing issues such as protests regarding the timing of the execution on the first day of a sacred Muslim holiday period and improprieties that occurred on the day of the execution. Likewise, the illustrations used to highlight these stories varied to a great degree and focus. Figure 5 was the image used by Al-Jezeera to illustrate their story regarding Saddam’s final moments as they were plagued by jeers and catcalls from the surrounding crowd. Despite this, the frontal view of his face seems to be calm and fearless. Although the image is fuzzy and difficult to make out much detail, it seems as though Saddam is serene with himself. The accompanying report indicates he exchanged insults with those in attendance and died reciting his prayers, both of which support the image thus portrayed. Figure 5: Al-Jezeera covers Saddam hanging Source: “Video shows Saddam being taunted.” (31 December, 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 4 January 2007 from: Figure 6 shows another angle on Hussein’s final moments as an illustration for a Western-backed international story covering the execution. Like the image used in the Al-Jezeera network, the CNN image is difficult to make out and the angle of the shot, taken from almost behind the former leader’s head to the left, makes it even more difficult to determine any kind of emotion the man might be feeling. Despite this, the title of the article confidently proclaims “Hussein executed with ‘fear in his face’” (2006). Yet, the caption for the image indicates Saddam refused to wear a hood as is typical for prisoners about to be executed by hanging, which does not necessarily indicate a man struggling with fearful emotions. Figure 6: Saddam hanging Source: “Hussein executed with ‘fear in his face.’” (30 December 2006). CNN. Available 4 January 2007 from: However, Said indicates that these types of mis-portrayals carried by the Western media are not always necessarily as deliberate as these images might at first suggest. He attests within his novel Orientalism that there is no such thing as pure knowledge because “no one has ever devised a method for detaching the scholar from the circumstances of life, from the fact of his involvement (conscious or unconscious) with a class, a set of beliefs, a social position, or from the mere activity of being a member of a society” (Said, 1979, p. 10). Because the concept of Orientalism is such an ingrained concept in the minds of the Western world, Said argues that it is impossible for a Western writer, regardless of genre or intent, to approach the topic from the perspective of an individual without first coming upon the topic as a Westerner. One of the modern means of interpreting a text involves the process of Deconstruction, a process that had already been labeled and in use when Said wrote his book. Despite the various things that can be learned through this process, it is argued that “texts cannot be deconstructed from ‘within’. For one thing, this would involve the inescapable loops of recursion: each attempt at deconstruction would need deconstructing. And quite apart from its logical absurdity, any such attempt would also be an epistemological impossibility, since (as Derrida would point out) authors cannot fully understand what they have written: the deep ground of the ideas which underlies the text is forever invisible and inaccessible to the author” (Chandler, 1995, p. 228). Indeed, Said argues that the concept of the Orient as it has been created within the minds of the West is so ingrained in so many facets of Western life that it manifests itself through the intertextual context and is indistinguishable to the Western writer from his own “pure” thought. These ideas have since been supported by numerous other writers looking into the various ways in which the West tends to conceptualize the ‘other’ in pre-determined understandings. Ziauddin Sardar in his book, also entitled Orientalism, said, “It was in its encounter with Islam that the West first developed its vision of the Orient as an unfathomable, exotic and erotic place where mysteries dwell and cruel and barbaric scenes are staged” (1999, p. 2). The approach Said outlines in studying these works includes consideration of the authority with which the author wrote including “strategic location, which is a way of describing the author’s position in a text with regard to the Oriental material he writes about, and strategic formation, which is a way of analyzing the relationship between texts and the way in which groups of texts, even textual genres, acquire mass, density, and referential power among themselves and thereafter in the culture at large” (Said, 1979, p. 20). To distinguish how these texts establish their authority, Said indicates it is necessary to study the “style, figures of speech, setting, narrative devices, historical and social circumstances, not the correctness of the representation nor its fidelity to some great original”(Said, 1979, p. 21) for evidence of the exteriority of the representation, ideas quickly accessible through studying the photographs involved. Table of Illustrations Figure 1: Hajj pilgrims at prayer 4 Figure 2: Hajj pilgrims 5 Figure 3: Saddams execution pending 6 Figure 4: Saddam at trial 7 Figure 5: Al-Jezeera covers Saddam hanging 8 Figure 6: Saddam hanging 9 References Chandler, Daniel. (1995). The Act of Writing. Aberystwyth, University of Wales. “Hanging angers Arab hajj pilgrims.” (31 December, 2006). CNN. Available 4 January 2007 from: “Hussein executed with ‘fear in his face.’” (30 December 2006). CNN. Available 4 January 2007 from: “Saddam appears in genocide trial.” (6 December, 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 4 January 2007 from: “Saddam execution angers pilgrims.” (30 December 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 7 January 2007 from: < http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3.htm?FRAMELESS=true&NRNODEGUID=%7bC8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3%7d> Said, Edward. (1979). Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. Sardar, Ziauddin. (1999). Orientalism. Buckingham: Open University Press. “US Officials: Hussein execution this weekend.” (29 December, 2006). CNN. Available 4 January 2007 from: Read More