Repercussions of the Misunderstood

After attending my third humanities core lecture by Professor Rodrigo Lazo, I found myself researching more into Edward Said’s proposal of orientalism. This ideology is based upon the distinction between the “east and west” being the “starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, epics, social descriptions and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people…” (Said 10). In short, an orientalist sees people and its culture different from their own, in turn using this ideology to justify racial superiority over the other. Unsettling right? The emphasis on eastern culture was portrayed through literature but most often paintings/illustrations. For instance, the painting below called "The Snake Charmer" by Jean-Léon Gérôme is famed for its highlights of the Arabic culture - a young, seductive man holding a snake, Arabic calligraphy on the walls and Persian tapestry. This gave orientalists an insight as to what eastern life is like. With this in mind, I immediately used orientalism as a foundation to my thoughts on the Islamic religion being an empire in itself, how lives have become different for Muslims following terrorist related attacks all over the world as well as the media being an outlet for stereotyping Islamic culture. One may ask, how significant are these factors to awaken the racism, the orientalist mindset, in the twenty-first century?

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Gérômere, Jean Léon. The Snake Charmer. 1879, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA .

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If you were to ask a practicing Muslim what their religion stands for, you may find that they believe peace is deeply rooted in the practice. Mustafa Akyol of The New York Times writes that Islam is “a religion of peace,” but today…looks more like a religion of conflict and bloodshed” . In support of Akyol’s claim, I believe the violent notions of Islam can be traced back to the platform news outlets have.

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One of the many front covers produced by the satirical journaling publishers Charlie Hebdo mocking the Islamic religion.

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Often times we see that magazines portray people of Islamic heritage in demeaning, negative ways. Above is a satirical front cover cartoon by illustrators of Charlie Hebdo. Explained by Miriam Krule of Slate, this magazine cover depicts “an orthodox Jewish man pushing a Muslim man in a wheelchair” (Krule 3) and “Faut pas se moquer” translating to “You mustn’t mock.” The stereotype(s) found is the Muslim mans enlarged nose, clear reflection of Osama Bin Laden through the beard and turban. “You mustn’t mock”? That satirical line is, per se, a statement to those that disagree with the magazines belief in free speech. This became a domino effect as many more publications of satirical and poor portrayals of the Muslim religion were the reasons for the attacks on the magazines headquarters in 2015. There were many warnings given to Stephané Charb, illustrator for Charlie Hebdo, to halt his publishing but ultimately ignored the warnings because “satire is, after all, his bread and butter” as said by Emily Greenhouse of The New Yorker. “His bread and butter”? Like many orientalist artists of the 19th-century?

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This terrorist attack is one of the many to affect the lives of not only innocent civilians, but those of Muslim heritage. From the rhetoric of a political leader’s stance on Muslim travel bans to the poor depiction of a seemingly peaceful practice, one may see that the Islamic religion as an empire itself is fighting a war with those unfamiliar with its beliefs. What defines an empire is its power, its impact on its people. However, in this growing day and age of bigotry against Muslims, many of them find it dangerous to live normal lives. Modern day orientalism can be found in various forms; in fact, I found biographies and blog posts by Muslim Americans detailing their everyday lives useful when drawing parallels for my research. Following the events of 9/11, Shawna Ayoub Ainslie of the Huffington Post, an American Muslim, writes: “my relationship with and to Islam evolved based on this one act of terror and the response of my home country”, a powerful statement that speaks for millions of misunderstood Muslims not only in the country I call home, but those all over the world (Ainslie 4).

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Works Cited

Ainslie, Shawna Ayoub. "20 Ways 9/11 Changed My Life as an (American) Muslim." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 Sept. 2015. Web.

Akyol, Mustafa. "Opinion | How Politics Has Poisoned Islam." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Feb. 2016. Web.

Greenhouse, Emily. "The Charlie Hebdo Affair: Laughing at Blasphemy." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 20 June 2017. Web.

Gérôme, Jean Léon. The Snake Charmer. 1879. Sterling Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Krule, Miriam. "Charlie Hebdo’s Most Controversial Religious Covers, Explained." Slate Magazine. N.p., 07 Jan. 2015. Web.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. N.p.: Vintage, 2004. Print.