In fact, the imbalance of power between western men and oriental women in the western literature not only reflects the westerners’ ethnocentrism but also their belief of western culture’s dominance over oriental culture. The Westerners are said to be masculine and powerful while the Orientals are perceived as feminine and feeble. Thus, it is natural for them to think that the west should conquer the east and make Orientals their appendages and trophies. The stereotype and prejudice mentioned above may have its cultural origin as Orientalism, which depict the relationship between west and east
She references western culture in this argument to suggest our humanity is built solely upon the idea of sex as a natural force that is the basis of social structure. She further breaks her theory down into five subsets; Sex negativity, the fallacy of misplaced scale, the hierarchical valuation of sex acts, the domino theory of sexual peril, and the lack of a concept of benign sexual variation. She discusses sex negativity as a dangerous and destructive force. If sex isn’t related to marriage or reproduction then it’s considered evil. In the fallacy of misplaced scale she explains how sex acts are mixed with feelings of significance.
I felt that she brought a very different and enlightening perspective, and had some interesting ideas. The very title, for instance, is thought provoking: “Size 6: The Western Women’s Harem”. The idea that our society’s rigid, harsh, and downright expectations of women’s bodies create an environment as restrictive and demeaning as a harem. In her article, Mernissi talks about how women are negatively affected by body image, and how their self esteem suffers as they strive to imitate what they think people want.She states, “Being frozen into the passive position of an object whose very existence depends on the eyes of its beholder turns the educated modern Western women into a harem slave”. She places the blame on both men and women.
Discuss the view of Stravinsky trying to fit in and adapting to be a ‘Cosmopolitan in Paris’ Discuss his journey to America and how this changed him – he was an outsider? Did his use of non-Russian collaborators affect or change him? Why can Stravinsky’s work be catalogued into his ‘Russian’ works and his ‘European’? Why did Stravinsky become a French citizen? Conclusion Was Stravinsky just a
Vivaldi was progressive musically. He established the concerto form as an instrumental standard, played with the idea that the soloist was at war with the larger orchestra and using the contrasts to dramatic effect, not only between players but in speed and volume levels as well, and he pushed the envelope on violin technique, something in which he probably remained untouched. His usual writing style was antiphony, a simple style, which allowed him to experiment with instrument solos and maintain a light and innocent texture to the music. Vivaldi was one of the rare Italian composers interested in woodwind instruments. He composed several concertos for the bassoon, oboe, recorder and flute, as well as the rarer clarinet.
Women for centuries have fought against a male dominated society in order to achieve a more equal standing. This same society and its stereotypes of women have proven to be a hindrance to accomplishing this lofty goal. These stereotypes prevailed in Renaissance England and flourished in many of the female characters in the literature. Ben Jonson’s classic comedy, Volpone, surely falls into this category. The portrayal of Celia and Lady Would-Be in Volpone reflects the misperceptions and low status of women in Renaissance England.
Heavyweights in classical music such as Edgard Varèse, Iannis Xenakis and Karlheinz Stockhausen have put out compositions and works using non-Western microtonal systems. Moreover, to label classical music as ethnocentric is equivalent to partiality. After all, those who play Debussy on the pianoforte will notice his hypnotic, gamelan-inspired textures. Furthermore, sitar maestro Ravi Shankar collaborated and performed with many big names in classical and contemporary music. To travel back further in time, how about the Cuban-esque habanera L'amour est un Oiseau Rebelle by Georges Bizet or the alla Turca (translation: in Turkish style) third movement of Sonata in A major, K. 331 by Mozart?
Edward Said’s piece on Orientalism gives the reader a profuse amount of information about “the Orient” and Orientalism. The Orient is symbolized by the character and culture of the people primarily in the Middle East. From Edward Said’s reading, I’ve learned that Orientalism is the false representations and assumptions perceived by the Western people about the Orient’s historical account, culture, art, and writings. Basically, this term refers to the Orient or East, in contrast to the Occident or West, though this is generally seen by the West’s point of view. In one of Disney’s movies, Mulan, I saw the use of Orientalism.
1 Interculturalism in Theatre: Western Plays on Contemporary Chinese Stage Chengzhou He, Nanjing University Abstract: This paper is mainly concerned with some adaptations and performances of Shakespeare, Ibsen and O’Neill since 1978 in China. It argues that those performances have three major characteristics: Firstly, the hybridity of languages. Not only were the classic Chinese and vernacular including dialects mixed, but also Chinese and English/French used together in one performance. Secondly, the interculturalism of mise-en -scene. On the one hand, the performances are characterized by abstractness and simplicity, typical of traditional Chinese theatre; on the other, the modern and postmodern elements of the Western theatre are being absorbed and applied in the performances.
Eastern and Western Music Comparison By Chuyun Yu Dr. Michael J. Pendowski Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama July 17th, 2013 The emotions they express may be similar, and they may share similar musical texture, but Eastern and Western music also demonstrate many differences in style and vocal instrument. This is due to the distinct singing techniques and different languages associated with each musical style. In this paper, I will compare both Eastern and Western vocal music in technique, the relationship of the text to the music, changes in mood, and texture. The Western and Eastern musical texts that I selected are O Mio Babbino Caro by Kiri te Kanawa from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and A Ba by Soinam Wangmo, respectively. Comparing musical styles from different parts of the world can reveal useful and interesting information.