The Origins of Occidentalism

Ian Buruma

The Chronicle Review of Higher Education Feb. 6, 2004

When the West is under attack . . .as it was on Sept. 11th 1. It is assumed that the West means the U.S. 2. And that U.S. foreign policy (or imperialism) and

U.S. corporate power (or globalization) have brought the suicide bombers and holy warriors upon America.

3. Conservatives believe that Islamist radicalism, like Communism before it, is an attack on “our values,” on the “American way of life.”

And, to some extent, these are “true” claims 1. The worldwide reach of Wall Street,

Hollywood, and the U.S. armed forces do invite resentment.

2. These institutions, as representations of U.S. way of life, do make them targets for Islamist jihad.

3. U.S. foreign policy has been brutal. 4. Global Capitalism has done a great deal of

damage to others.

But, that’s not all there is to it.

The current jihadis see the West as something less than human, to be destroyed, as though it were a cancer.

This kind of thinking about the West isn’t new.

For example . . .

The Japanese gathered at a conference in Kyoto in 1942 to find an ideological justification for Japan’s mission to smash the Western empires in Asia.

The question under discussion was “How to overcome the modern.” Modernity is associated with the West and with Western imperialism.

Westernization

. . . was considered to be a disease that had infected the Japanese spirit . . .

They discussed the way that unhealthy specialization in knowledge had fragmented the wholeness of the Oriental spiritual culture.

They blamed science, capitalism, modern technology, modern ideas of individual freedom and democracy.

Oriental Cultures

. . . they agreed were spiritual and profound, where as modern Western culture was shallow, rootless, destructive of creative powers.

The west was coldly mechanical, a machine civilization without spirit or soul

German Romantics in the late 18th and early 19th century . . . used the same terms to describe the proponents

of the French Enlightenment. The Slavophiles in 19th century Russia used the same

terms to attack Westernizing Russians, advocates of democratic reforms.

Communism was a sworn enemy of Western liberalism.

The founders of the Ba’ath Party in Syria coined the phrase “Westoxification” to describe the poisonous influence of Western civilization on their culture.

So, the idea of the West as evil has roots in Europe itself, not in the Orient

It’s a reaction against industrialization A revolt against rationalism And secularism And individualism

Occidentalism is a form of revolt against the West which depicts the West as less than human; rebellion means murder.

Much as Westerners saw those they colonized as less than human, so members of the various rebellions against the West, see us as less than human as well.

Humiliation turns into a cult

. . . of the pure and authentic. One of the qualities the Orient hates most

about the Occident is its claim to universalism.

Westerners believe in universal faith, universal codes of law, universal good of democracy.

And while some of these things are good, or can create benefits for many, they can not be forced on a people.

Occidentalism is fueled by . . .

A sense of humiliation & defeat. Its proponents are resentful of the attitude of

inferiority infused into its people and culture by the West.

They react by turning to real or imaginary triumphs and glories of the past,

or, to enviable attributes of their own national or cultural character.

Cult of the Pure and Authentic

Calculation lies in the accounting of money, interests, scientific evidence – and is regarded as soulless.

Authenticity lies in poetry, intuition, and blind faith. The Occidentalist view of the West is of a bourgeois

society, addicted to creature comforts, animal lusts, self-interest and security.

It is a society of cowards who prize life above death. Americans, say jihad fighters, will never win because they love Pepsi-Cola, whereas the holy warriors love death.

The hero devotes himself to destroying the Occident and any of its symbols.

So, what’s new about the Islam holy war against the West? 1. The totality of its vision. Those who refuse the call of Islam

are savages who must be removed. The Japanese saw some benefits to Westernization, Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, but he didn’t want to give up Western standards and practices, Stalinists and Maoists wanted to eradicate class enemies, but they didn’t want to wipe out the West.

2. The worship of false gods is the worst religious sin of Islam. And the West worships the false gods of money and sex. The jihadis believe that the thoughts and laws of man have replaced the kingdom of God.

3. They apply the term jahitiyya to the current state of things – it means idolatry, religious ignorance and barbarism are everywhere.

Their main target are those who are impure or Westernized among themselves, but the jahitiyya is everywhere and all of it must be destroyed.

How should the West respond?

1. We must defend our freedoms against outsiders, 2. But, in our zeal to defend ourselves, we must be

careful not to undermine our freedoms ourselves. In the balance between security and civil liberty, the latter should never be sacrificed to the former.

3. We cannot turn this into a religious war – Christians against Islam. If we do so, we become as driven by binaries as those who seek to defeat us.

4. We will only come out winners in the end if we continue to respect our own freedoms and remember to respect the rights and freedoms of others.

And Murakami

How does Murakami use scenes from the Manchurian battle front to critique Colonialism/Imperialism. Refer specifically to one event in the text to support your answer.

Where does Murakami fit in the Orientalist/Occidentalist scheme of things?