Carver Lagos Modern World History Christopher Freeman March 14, 2013 Orientalism During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was very common for European explorers to come across native people in countries in different continents. Naturally, things such as these people’s culture, and overall way of living differed very much from their own European way of life. This caused them to be Orientalized, or criticized for the way they lived. People at this time were very skeptical and unaccepting of when it came to things that were “different”.
Ranging from things such as not wearing clothing to the consumption of other human beings, these native groups of people were orientalized for it by the Europeans. Jean De Lery is an icon of orientalism because of his journey through the country of Brazil and his orientalization of the Tupinamba people. Lery Orientalizes the Tupinamba by attacking their physical appearance and their actions. On page 64, Lery writes that the Tupinamba also “share with them the practice of pulling out all body hair, as well as the eyelashes and eyebrows”.
According to Lery, this is not normal. Therefore he oriantalizes it, or simply makes fun of it. Compared to how things are now, eyebrows and eyelashes are common things to have, and if someone were to be missing them nowadays, they would most likely be oriantalized as well. On page 126, Lery describes in great detail the Tupinamba’s cannibalism process. “After that, the one who owned the prisoner, with as many neighbors of his choosing as he please, will take this poor body, cleave it, and immediately cut it into pieces…licking their fingers, they say ‘that is good’”.
The reason for Orientalizing this action is that it is not normally done in Europe. In 1591, when British sailors came across the Hottentot people, or the KhoiKhoi, they only saw things that were wrong. According to the British, “What was spoken by the people of the Cape, the English refused to recognize as language; what was worn, they could not consider clothing; what was danced and sung to, they could not judge according to is appropriateness. ” As I previously mentioned, things that were different from their own were not right in the Europeans eyes. English confidence about their own racial and cultural superiority over the people of the Cape seemed to have grown in direct proportion to their demonization and categorization of them as a beastly society. ” As the Hottentots became more and more orientalized, the British continued to put themselves higher up on a pedestal. In their eyes, they became more and more superior to the natives. Because of this, the KhoiKhoi were ever seen as barbaric and savage. Also, back in Europe, these people were represented as propaganda.
In conclusion, there is not much difference in the ways that the two groups were orientalized. To be honest, the Tupinamba were more abnormal than the Hottentots were. The two groups of people’s ways of living were very different from each other. In my opinion, the people from the cape were orientalized in a worse way because they were basically advertised all across Britain for everybody to see. Lery’s critization of the Tupinamba was mainly because of their very different way of living, while the British sailors began Orientalizing much due to racial reasons.
