Orientalism. Franois Bernier and Kaempfers Manuscripts - Essay Example

28 Jan. 2008 European Travelers Archives - An Ideological Dis Introduction: The works of many European intellectuals about the Asia gives us intriguing facts about the people's culture and various other ancient beliefs. We get enormous amount of data from various travelers account, so that we learn about Asian ancestors, their way of living, their political system and their practices. This was extensively practiced by the imperialistic European scholars and it paved the way for an entirely new discipline of study called "Orientalism". Orientalism is the study of near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, and peoples by Western scholars. It also refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West. When used in a neutrally descriptive sense, "Orientalism" describes a development in the history of ideas that was shaped by the attitudes of the era of European imperialism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But, the term when it is interpreted antagonistically, it implies trivializing, dismissive and prejudiced interpretations by Westerners of Eastern cultures and peoples. Thehistoryandcultural influence of these "Oriental books" can be felt consistently. Writers who explored various facets of the countries cultures revealed only those in consistency with their culture and despised the other facets of the target countries culture. The traveler's manuscripts were beneficial in a number of ways, for example the traveler's records have paved the way to improve the trade relations between the east and the west. Also we learn ancient secrets from their books. From their rich experience the travelers provide a huge amount of information which is useful at many times and confusing at times. Sometimes works by some intellectuals are merely baseless, thanks to their very little knowledge about other intimates and ethos of the country they describe and so they end up with some records which are just entirely misleading. Let us evaluate the various pros and cons of these travelers's account. Kaempfer's manuscripts: At Kaempfer's death his mostly unpublished manuscripts were purchased by Sir Hans Sloane, and conveyed to England. Among them was a History of Japan, translated from the manuscript into English by J.G. Scheuchzer and published at London, in 2 Vols. in 1727. In this manuscript he gives a good account about Japanese and their culture. In first hand, he describes the highways of Japan. Kaempfer has provided a map about ancient Japan paving way for various explorers in the later years. Kaempfer says "An incredible number of people daily use the highways of Japan's provinces, indeed, at certain times of the year they are as crowded as the streets of a populous European city." He also gives a good account of Japanese Shrines and 33 important temples. Further, he gives a good account about the Japanese warlords richness and their might. Besides Japanese history, this book contains a description of the political, social and physical state of the country in the 17th century. For upwards of a hundred years it remained the chief source of information for the general reader, and is still not wholly obsolete. But his description about the pilgrims as 'Beggars', clearly portrays author's ignorance about the Japanese tradition. Pilgrimages to Ise have been popular for centuries and seven visits was said to ensure salvation. Even in the secular Japan of today, Ise holds a place equivalent to Mecca or Jerusalem for many Japanese. It is their holy duty to walk to the shrine barefooted. They renounce their earthly wealth before starting on the pilgrim and depend on the alms for their living in their travel. Further, his categorizing of 'Beggars' as 'Kannons', silent, common and his description about the prostitutes clearly depicts his imperialistic goals. He tries his best to establish the superiority of the West over the East. In this contest he even criticizes the work of moderate Oriental writer like Francois Caron. Further, his ridiculous description about the Yamabushi does no good to his understanding of Japanese culture. Yamabushi are a group of holy men in Japan who preach Buddhism. They are monks empowered with traditional fighting skills. Most of these monks practice ascetics as a way of life, in addition to their devotion to Buddhism. These monks are held in high esteem by the people of Japan. As their reputation for mystical insight and knowledge grew, and their organization grew tighter, many of the masters of the ascetic disciplines began to be appointed to high spiritual positions in the court hierarchy. They were very much respected by the monarchy and had powers of no limit. Franois Bernier Manuscript: Bernier visited India during the medieval period. In the letter dated October 4, 1667 to Monsieur Jean Chapelain that is entitled "Describing the Superstitions, strange customs, and Doctrines of the Indus or Gentiles [Hindus] of Hindustan" gives a good account of the Indians and their culture. He is also one of those imperialistic writers and this can be easily understood from the details of India which he gave to Monsieur Jean Chapelain. He describes India as "My lord, you may have seen before this, by the maps of Asia, how great every way is the extent of the empire of the Great Mogul, which is commonly called India or Indostan I cannot but persuade myself otherwise but that it is at least five times as far as from Paris to Lyons, ---that is, about five hundred common leagues". He also gives a good political account of the nation by giving details about the mighty Mogul kings and other Rajahs. He also describes the political system followed by Mogul and how Persians held higher offices in the Mogul kingdom. He claims to have witnessed several instances of sati and to have persuaded one Hindu widow to refrain from self-immolation in order to ensure that her sons would receive a pension from the Mogul governor of Delhi. In this excerpt, Bernier contrasts many of the sati systems practiced in India and their wild nature. He also gives a good account of the four Vedas of Hindus and their preaching. He also gives a good account of Sanskrit, a language known only to the Pandits of India and the language in which the Vedas are written. In this contest he describes Benares as the educational centre of India and the Gurukul education given there. Bernier is better than his counterpart Kaempfer in not giving false details about the natives but at the same time he fails to mention the positive side of their culture and belief. This is supposedly done by Bernier to establish the superiority of the West. Orientalism forms an important background for postcolonial studies. It is a political propaganda wielded by stronger imperialistic nations over the weaker ones. Rejection of Orientalist thinking does not entail a denial of the differences between 'the West' and 'the Orient,' but rather an evaluation of such differences in a more critical and objective fashion should be avoided. Works Cited Said ,Edward Said.26 Jan. 2008. Orientalism. 28 Jan. 2008. Bernier, Franois. 1826. Travels in the Mogul Empire. 286 pages. 28 Jan. 2008 Read More