[KS] Does "the Orient" still exist?

[Sang Hwan Seong]

Dear Tobias and list members,

This question seems to be obviously related to "Language Change". And the academia turns out to be a very conservative place in retaining a certain terminology. The following passage comes from´"Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship" by Hans H. Hock and Brian Joseph (1996:4-5, de Gruyter):

"At a recent meeting of the American Oriental Society the proposal was made to rename the organization: It was argued that although the Society is dedicated to the languages, literatures and cultures of ALL of Asia, from Israel and Palestine to China and Japan, its name suggests an interest only in the Far East. The proposal was greeted with disbelief, even outrage, and was quickly voted down."

It is true that for many speakers of North American English the term 'oriental' has now a negative connotation. I cannot write down all the interesting points found in the above book with respect to 'Language Change', but one interesting observation the authors make is that (the scholars of the Society) "probably were outraged at the intrusion of the non-scholarly connotation that oriental had acquired".

These authors also stress the fact that "America has become more independent in its thinking from Europe". Thus, the liberal thinking in interpreting the term 'oriens' is that in North America the sun does not rise in the Near East anymore, but in the Atlantic Ocean.

I wonder if some of the negative meanings this word carries are also visible in the Old World. My colleage (A. Huwe) confirms that the German equivalent 'orientalisch' does not bear such meanings. The German word is also claimed to be associated with some motives like Arabian Nights. Our seminar at which we work is called 'Seminar fuer Orientalische Sprachen' covering Near Eastern Studies and East Asia. There is also an interesting term 'morgenlaendisch (coined from Greek by M. Luther)'  in German. So things are not clean-cut.
Some of interesting arguments about why one should avoid the problematic English expression, you find in the following site:

 http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2788/oriental.html

I hope this helps the discussion.

Sang Hwan SEONG
Korean Department
Seminar f. Orientalische Sprachen
Univ. of Bonn

    

 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Vladimir Tikhonov 
  To: Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 3:57 PM
  Subject: Re: [KS] Does "the Orient" still exist?


  Dear Tobias,

  Perhaps, it would be helpful to remind you that - as E.Said himself stressed several times - "Orientalism" could mean not only the assertion of the "Oriental Other"'s inferiority, but also a very strong tendency to romanticize the "Oriental Other", to seek for "wisdom" or "truth" - presumably lost by the "West" - in the "Orient". In Russian 20th C. tradition, a typical romantic "Orientalist" was great artist and Buddhist thinker, Nikolai Rerikh (a person of Scandinavian ancestry, by the way), who spent the last half of his life in India, painting Tibetan landscapes and befriending the personages like J.Nehru. A kind of "Sinolatry" was a feature of Russian Chinese studies - Academician V.Alekseev spent lots of inks proving that Taoism was superior to any Western philosophy, and not only him. To simply reject the word "oriental" as "imperialist vestige" feels like the notorious "class battles" against "bourgeois reactionaries" in 1920s Soviet academia. The faculty I graduated from in St-Petersbourg, remains "Oriental" - and, I guess, will not change the name.

  Yours,

  Vladimir 


  At 09:44 07.05.2003 +0200, you wrote:

    I need help to find strong arguments for a change of name of Sweden's main Asian studies department, the Department of Oriental languages at Stockholm University, where many faculty members proudly and gladly use academic terms like "oriental", "the Orient" and "orientals". After having proposed a change to the Department of Asian languages a discussion has started with the faculty members being divided according to the following more or less expected lines where the former group influenced by postcolonial thinking wants a change in the name of antiracism, while the latter sees themselves as defenders of the Western academic tradition of "Orientalism":

    Very strong divisions:
    - ethnic Asians against ethnic Westerners
    - PhD candidates and research assistants against associate professors and professors
    - people born in the 1960s/1970s/1980s against those born in the 1930s/1940s/1950s

    As so many of the defenders refer to the countries of England and France where "Oriental Studies" and "Orientalism" still is the accepted scientific term, could someone help me with the background on how Oriental Studies was transformed into Asian Studies in a North American setting (including a possible parallel to how "Negro Studies" was transformed into African Studies already some 30 years ago) as well as some information on how the term is perceived outside the West among the Asians themselves? Or is it that I am wrong - that terms like "oriental", "the Orient" and "orientals" aren't that contested and controversial as I presume?


    Best,
    -- 


    Tobias Hübinette a.k.a. Lee Sam-dol

    Ph.D. candidate in Korean studies
    Department of Oriental languages
    Stockholm University
    SE-106 91 Stockholm
    Sweden

    Tel: 46-8-16 15 88
    Fax: 46-8-15 54 64
    E-mail: tobias at orient.su.se

    Presentations:
    Department of Oriental languages: www.orient.su.se/koreanskapersonal.html
    Info Portal Asia: www.sub.su.se:591/sidor/forskning/koreaforsk/tobias/


  Vladimir Tikhonov,
  Department of East European and Oriental Studies,
  Faculty of Arts,
  University of Oslo,
  P.b. 1030, Blindern, 0315, Oslo, Norway.
  Fax: 47-22854140; Tel: 47-22857118
  Personal web page: http://www.geocities.com/volodyatikhonov/volodyatikhonov.html
  Electronic classrooms: East Asian/Korean Society and Politics:
                         http://www.geocities.com/uioeastasia2002/main.html
                         East Asian/Korean Religion and Philosophy:
                         http://www.geocities.com/uioeastasia2003/classroom.html



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