University of Washington

The Evolution of American Orientalism

Meghan Frisch

Honors 231: Islam and Muslims in Western Contexts

Karam Dana

25 January 2017
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American Orientalism represents the American perception of the Middle East and the

assumptions made about their residing populations. Whether these assumptions be of the

religious affiliation, worldview, and/or actions of the Orients populous, the lack of knowledge

of the area and culture by the majority of Americans encompass the Orientalist view. Although,

more generally, Orientalism asks how do we come to understand people -- strangers who look

different to us by virtue of the color of their skin (Edward Said On Orientalism 2:25). Other

definitions of Orientalism include it being an aim to understand and analyse Middle Eastern

affairs in an academic milieu, but all refer to a groups knowledge and perception of a foreign

populous (Samiei 1145). The distorted view that Americans contain regarding the Arab World

has fostered the fear that is associated with the Middle East. This stems from the unfamiliarity

and ignorance of American citizens in reference to this area. The differing political and social

cultures and ideas of the Middle East and the United States has created this unfamiliarity and

resulted in a clash of civilizations. Throughout the last century, fear has resided among the

American people towards Arab populations, but the level of fear and its visibility in the

conscience and behavior of the American people has evolved, exemplifying the ramifications of

Orientalism in American society.

Over time, the interaction between the Arab World and America brought to light and

heightened our differences. The original admiration of the West within the Arab World receded

and was replaced with anger. Sources of this anger stemmed from many origins, but American

intervention and support for Israel in the Israel-Palestine conflict remains one of the most

significant. But, there are some oddities, difficult to explain in terms of a single, simple cause

(Lewis 52). American support of the forceful removal of Palestinians from their Holy Land to
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make room for Israel, marks one cause for tension. Within the United States, ramifications of

American support for Israel included the politicization of American Orientalism due to one-sided

reporting (Edward Said On Orientalism 12:03). This makes it virtually impossible for an

American to see on television, to read books, to see films, about the Middle East that are not

colored politically by this conflict in which the Arabs almost always play the role of terrorists

and violent people (Edward Said On Orientalism 13:55). With the extensive American

education of Arabs as representing dangerous and irrational beings through the Israeli conflict,

Americans largely came to assume that... all of the twenty-two widely varying Arab countries

were largely the same, united in their inherent cultural dispositions and hatred of Americans and

the West (Cainkar 86). This Orientalist representation of Arabs and the Middle East increased

the American racism towards Arab Americans and the Arab World.

Another source of fear and hatred originates in the historical connection of America to

Europe: Since the United States is the legitimate heir of European civilization and the

recognized and unchallenged leader of the West, the United States has inherited the resulting

grievances and become the focus for the pent-up hate and anger (Lewis 59-60). This source of

clash has influenced attacks such as the 1989 attack in Islamabad on the USIS center due to the

publication of Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie in the United States. Despite the authors

Indian birth and British citizenship; his minor connection to the Arab world was enough to

trigger an attack (Lewis 60). Due to the skewed reporting of Middle Eastern activity, American

news outlets only report events which involve American interests or threaten America in any

form. Therefore, minor but violent attacks such as the 1989 attack in Islamabad, coupled with the

unfamiliarity of Islam and the Arab World, created the fear which began American affiliation of
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terrorism to the Middle East. In 1991, an ABC poll stated that 59 percent of Americans

associated the term terrorists and 56 percent associated the phrase religious fanatics with

Arabs (Cainkar 69). This association created the assumption that all attacks and threats towards

America originated from Arab or Muslim populations.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, American Orientalism has become an even

larger component of American lives. The War on Terror, which followed the 9/11 terrorist

attacks, targeted terrorism rather than individual nations, resulting in a myriad of ethnicities and

nationalities being classified into a monolithic category of Muslim (Selod 4). Not only were

American religious views of Muslims (as radical) solidified due to the attacks, but the blanketing

of all Arabs under the religion of Muslim was solidified as the American Orientalist view. Due to

this false association, American perception of Muslim indicators include Middle Eastern names

or Muslim symbols (a long beard for men and a hijab for women). The identification of a

Muslim through any indication has become a prerequisite for the socially acceptable practice of

profiling: question[ing] and interrogat[ing] them about their nationality and loyalty to the USA

(Selod 2). This has become acceptable because of the preconceived notion that Muslim men are

considered a threat to national security and Muslim women who wear a hijab are a threat to

Western cultural values due to the Orientalist view of the hijab representing womens oppression

and opposition to Western feminism (Selod 2). This change in perception of Muslim and Arab

Americans has created the ramification of an American desire for political action against their

fellow citizens. After 9/11, public support for special measures reserved for suspect groups,

the potentially suspicious, or persons who fit a terrorist profile arose (Cainkar 71). The
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categories for these measures were broadly construed to encompass Arab and Muslim American

communities across the country (Cainkar 71).

The change in American behavior and view towards Arab and Muslim Americans has

intensified with the escalation of globalization (Samiei 1145). This interconnection of the world

has increased the threat of change which the Middle East may bring, and in turn harm American

interests. On the other hand, the anger and fear of the American World by the Arab World has

intensified due to and along with American Orientalism. The clash of civilizations represents the

perhaps irrational but surely historic reaction of an ancient rival against our Judeo-Christian

heritage, our secular present, and the worldwide expansion of both (Lewis 60). In this manner,

the clash of civilizations in linked to Orientalism because both are irrational fears stemming from

historical conflict and perpetuated by modernization and globalization.

As America enters the Trump Era, no one exactly knows what to expect. In light of the

xenophobic and anti-Islamic sentiments President Trump has spoken against Muslims, both

domestically and abroad, we can assume American Orientalism will intensify, leading to a more

hateful and fearful country. President Trumps suggestion of placing Muslim Americans in

internment camps as America did to Japanese Americans during WWII exemplifies the level and

visibility of fear among the American people; American history may repeat itself. This

internment would be in response to fear, rather than national security, similarly to the Japanese

internment: Japanese internment was not justified by military necessitythe policy was the

outcome of racial prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership (Cainkar 78). In

order to move past the clash and broken understanding between Middle Eastern societies and the

United States, we must deliberate and understand ourselves in relation to others (Edward Said
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On Orientalism 35:15). This, I believe, will not occur within the Trump Presidency due to the

lack of support for accurate coverage and education on Islam and Middle Eastern society within

American leadership.

American perception of Islam and the Arab World has evolved throughout the past

century in terms of fear and the portrayal of this fear among the American populous. The idea

that their culture poses a threat to our way of life exemplifies the connection between

American Orientalism and the clash between Middle Eastern and American civilizations

(Amin-Khan 1600).

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Bibliography

Amin-Khan, Tariq. "New Orientalism, Securitisation and the Western Media's Incendiary

Racism." Third World Quarterly 33.9 (2012): 1595-610. Web.

Cainkar, Louise. "The Social Construction of the Arab (and Muslim) American"

Homeland insecurity: the Arab American and Muslim American experience after 9/11

(2009): Chapter 3

Edward Said On Orientalism. Dir. Sut Jhally. Prod. Sanjay Talreja. Perf. Edward Said. Web.

Lewis, Bernard. "The Roots of Muslim Rage." Atlantic Monthly, Sept. 1990.

Samiei, Mohammad. "Neo-Orientalism? The Relationship between the West and Islam in Our

Globalised World." Third World Quarterly 31.7 (2010): 1145-160. Web.

Selod, Saher. "Citizenship Denied: The Racialization of Muslim American Men and Women

Post-9/11." Critical Sociology 41, no. 1 (2015): 77-95.