Orientalist discourse in media texts

Abstract

By placing itself at the center of the world with a Eurocentric point of view, the West exploits other countries and communities through inflicting cultural change and transformation on them either from within via colonialist movements or from outside via “Orientalist” discourses in line with its imperialist objectives.

The West has fictionalized the “image of the Orient” in terms of science by making use of social sciences like anthropology, history and philology and launched an intensive propaganda which covers literature, painting, cinema and other fields of art in order to actualize this fiction. Accordingly, the image of the Orient – which has been built firstly in terms of science then socially – has been engraved into the collective memory of both the Westerner and the Easterner.

The internalized “Orientalist” point of view and discourse cause the Westerner to see and perceive the Easterner with the image formed in his/her memory while looking at them. The Easterner represents and expresses himself/herself from the eyes of the Westerner and with the image which the Westerner fictionalized for him/her. Hence, in order to gain acceptance from the West, the East tries to shape itself into the “Orientalist” mold which the Westerner fictionalized for it.

Artists, intellectuals, writers and media professionals, who embrace and internalize the stereotypical hegemonic-driven “Orientalist” discourse of the Westerner and who rank among the elite group, reflect their internalized “Orientalist” discourse on their own actions. This condition causes the “Orientalist” clichés to be engraved in the memory of the society; causes the society to view itself with an “Orientalist” point of view and perceive itself with the clichés of the Westerner. Consequently, the second ring of the hegemony is reproduced by the symbolic elites who represent the power/authority within the country.

The “Orientalist” discourse, which is especially carried out over the media that makes mass broadcasting, separates Turkey as “Westerner” and “Easterner”, deactivates Turkey and makes Turkey passive; and isolates and alienates Turkish people within themselves. The “Orientalist” discourse, which semantically glorifies the West and serves the purpose of reproducing hegemony, fictionalizes and reproduces its own Eastern discourse by positioning itself in accordance with the West.