ASIAN 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Himalayas, Silt, Volcanic Ash
ASIAN 101 – THE IDEA OF ASIA
The Idea of Asia
o Asia as a continent
o Asia is everything that Europe is not
▪ Eurocentric
▪ Because “these people” are not like us, they are Asia not
Europe
▪ Separation not only Eurocentric, Asian people describe
themselves with their culture and all
• Separations still present. The people who do the
differentiations are comparing themselves to other parts
of the world. (Vantage point)
▪ Europe / Asia from Greek
▪ Occident / Orient (West / East)
o Orientalism by Edward Said
▪ Discourse: The way we talk about and represent a group of
people or race
▪ Orientalist Discourse: Depicting “Eastern” places and cultures
as uncivilized and exotic (different from Europe)
• By calling Eastern peoples uncivilized, it allows the
europeans to say that they are civilized
• Justification for colonization
▪ Othering
• Differentiation
• Not just Eurocentric, Asian centric is a thing too
(community/family vs. individual, etc.)
• Saying what makes you an American, as well as it is not
being Canadian, etc. Disparaging
▪ Said’s Arguments about Orientalism
• 1. Orientalism depicts people of Orient as less than
fully human
• 2. Representations, taken together, create a discourse
about the Orient
• 3. Orientalist discourse has been used to justify the
superior position of the West
• 4. Superior position has been used to justify
Western intervention into Asian countries
(colonization, financial, military intervention)
• Orientalism still present in pop culture - GoT
o Paint a homogenous picture of Asia, when it is
truly a diverse place
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
A sia n 1 01 t h e i d e a o f a s ia. The idea of asia: asia as a continent, asia is everything that europe is not, eurocentric, because these people are not like us, they are asia not. Europe: separation not only eurocentric, asian people describe themselves with their culture and all, separations still present. Orientalism depicts people of orient as less than fully human: 2. Representations, taken together, create a discourse about the orient: 3. Orientalist discourse has been used to justify the (cid:1688)superior(cid:1689) position of the west: 4. (cid:1688)superior(cid:1689) position has been used to justify. Western intervention into asian countries (colonization, financial, military intervention: orientalism still present in pop culture - got, paint a homogenous picture of asia, when it is truly a diverse place. Bangladesh, maldives: east asia - china, mongolia, taiwan, koreas, japan, south east asia - philippines, indonesia, myanmar, thailand,
