Post-Orientalist Comments by Contemporary Women Photographers

Today, Iran, Morocco, Tunisia, etc. women photographers have made the orientalist visual expression form the focal point of their art: the orientalist painting tradition as a result of the painter Delacroix's trip to Morocco in 1832, the imagination world and the painting tradition shaped by the economy-politics of the period, from the male-dominated point of view, the harem, the chamber, etc. It is based on fantasies based on the female body in oriental spaces. Although this painting movement maintained its effectiveness between 1832-1914, it is taken as a reference by photographers in today's postmodern art environment. In today's photography art, Shirin Neshat, Lalla Essaydi, Shadi Ghadirian, Majida Khattari, Meriem Bouderbala, who have Eastern and Western cultures and mostly live in Western countries, visualize the position of women in their countries with an interdisciplinary interpretation in their photographic visions that they shape with a post-orientalist attitude.

Constructing and Reconstructing Orientalism

The purpose of the chapter is to show that orientalism is a dynamic construct that simultaneously represents continuity and change. The hypothesis outlines that contemporary artists build upon 18th century symbols to reconstruct orientalist art, hence reproducing the constructed, stereotypical neo-orientalist or self-orientalist imagery. The hypothesis is seen to be true as the intimate artwork of Zahrin Kahlo, Lalla Essaydi, Eric Parnes, and Yasmina Bouziane shows that contemporary orientalist artists are using recurring symbols to depict their self-identity, even though they appropriate those symbols in an act of resistance to depict social change. A more productive path of expression may be one of authenticity rather than a recreation of existing imagery in the attempt to deconstruct it. Even though the continuity of the construct is obvious, change is granular and not as pronounced.

Techno Fantasies of East and West

In this chapter, the science fiction anime that takes its source from Masamune Shirow's manga with the same name, Kōkaku Kidōtai (攻殻機動隊, Ghost in the Shell), is examined and compared with the U.S. adaptation film Ghost in the Shell (2017) within the framework of techno-orientalism. The study aims a comparative critique through anime and film, which both allow explaining the transformative potential-effects of technology in a socio-cultural context in the east-west axis, through dissociations, convergences, and integration. It is to review the representations of traditional Western-centered thought that is deconstructed with the narrative which maintains focus on technology axis; it is aimed to reveal with the analysis that takes the 2017 film to the center. In this way, Ghost in the Shell offers possibilities of representation in the axis of futuristic Eastern culture with the female-cyborg character that presents the cyber-society environment, the deconstruction of the idea that puts focus on anthropocentrism, especially the ‘Western man'.

Orientalism Revisited

Orientalism is a Western and Western-centric broad field of research that studies the social structures, cultures, languages, histories, religions, and geographies of countries to the east of Europe. The term took on a secondary, detrimental association in the 20th century which looks down on the East. However, this chapter will not dwell on the definition of Orientalism that is debated the most; instead, it will discuss the positive contribution of Orientalism to Western culture. Even though the West otherizes the East in daily life, when it comes to desire, vanity, luxury, and flamboyance without hesitating a moment it adopts these very elements from the Eastern culture. It could be said that this adaptation brings these societies closer in one way or another. The highly admired fashion of Orientalism in the West starting from the 17th century until the 21st century will be the focus of this study.

Analysis of Poster Designs of Turkish TV Series on Ottoman History

TV series are significant media products when considered as part of audience's leisure activities at home. Marketing of leisure activities to the audience in front of the screen as an indicator of individuality is one of the basic conditions of media consumption. With the watched product, the person feels that he belongs to a community, or, on the contrary, he is unique. It is possible for the individual who watches the historical series to adopt/reflect the national and social spirit. Again, as a part of the consumer society, the displays of the spectacular elements that emphasize the individual's need to express himself/herself with commodities are quite high. In the study, the poster designs of two series that are shown in Turkey (and in various countries of the world) and reach a wide audience have been examined with both visual design elements and principles and semiotics to reveal clues about cultural memory and orientalism in terms of reflecting the Ottoman history.

An Orientalist “Journey” to Istanbul From the Super Bowl Final

This study is firstly built on the determination of the orientalist elements in Turkish Airlines' commercial film Journey, which was broadcast in the Super Bowl final of the 2019 American Football League, and how Turkish culture is represented in Istanbul with these orientalist elements. In the context of the sample handled in the study, Turkish architectural structures, Turkish historical structures, Turkish Islamic cultural elements, and Turkish traditions are included, and the presentation of Istanbul from the eyes of a “foreigner” with an orientalist point of view has been handled with the method of semiotic analysis. The main problem of the study is on the different presentation of the East and Istanbul, despite the usual orientalist perspective in media contents and especially in advertising. In this sense, it focuses not on anti-orientalism, but on the conclusion that orientalism is presented with the change of classical narratives.

Eastern Male Image in Contemporary Oriental Media

When the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century was at the peak of its power, British and French merchants who came to Istanbul were writing so-called memories of harems to their homeland, and these letters composed the image of Eastern male in Orientalism and details of Muslim male image, which was one of the most important prototypes. The details which were written by non-Muslims who had no chance to even come near to Sultan's private life, recounted a period of literature to politics. Moreover, Muslim males who were called “not lustful Turk” in the past also have to face some kind of vexatious accusations today because of this created identity. In the same year, the producers proposed that The Lustful Turk movie had a big budget and an ambitious project; they were trying to affect potential audience. In this study, The Lustful Turk's novel segments and the movie are analyzed in detail to understand top-level racist accusations to Eastern male image, especially the Turkish one. Also, contemporary media approaches will be evaluated from Edward Said's point of view.

Engendering Orientalism

This study explores the elements of Orientalism in German-Turkish director Fatih Akin's films Head-On (2004) and The Edge of Heaven (2007). Utilizing Homi Bhabha's theory of “third spaces,” which immigrants often inhabit, and Edward Said's lens of the postcolonial gaze, I analyze the degree to which the bodies of immigrants willingly embody the mysterious “oriental,” and how and when it is projected upon male and female characters in these two films. Akin's characters dwell between a perceived and imaginary Occident and Orient, while living and traveling in the soil of both Germany and Turkey.

The Difference Between the Western Reflections of Disaster News and Orientalist Perspectives

The women issue is important not only in Western but also in Eastern cultures. Positioned in between the East and West, Turkey always provides an interesting collection of cases and data. Apart from the daily consumption of the women images and realities, the image of the women is also mobile when it comes to the press, and thus, this mobility is extended worldwide through the new media possibilities in the age of information. However, the contradictory images of the different cultures were displayed in the history of media as well. This chapter aims to put forward how the positioning of women in the past took place specifically in the case of Titanic news on the press of the time. The chapter questions the similarities and differences of handling women in news comparing and contrasting the Western journalism of the time and Ottoman press coverage.

Orientalist Museum Exhibitions in UK as a New Media at the Turn of the 21st Century

In this chapter, the author examined the orientalist themed museum exhibitions totally held in Britain after 2000 to understand the real intention behind their thematic artifact selection and their effect on people as becoming media tool. These were “Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600” in 2005, “The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting” in 2008, and recent “Inspired by the East: How the Islamic World Influenced Western Art” in 2019, respectively. The author analyzed the criticisms in newspapers and magazines as well as curators' interviews and catalogs for the museum exhibitions organized in United Kingdom. In this way, the author also discussed the effects of the exhibition created with the media.