Our view on the Other: issues regarding school textbooks

Studies of the image of Muslims or ‘the Other’ in general have been done to a certain extent by Western scholars showing that stereotyped images have been prevalent. In the case of Islamic studies, the long tradition of Orientalist scholarship is a clear example of this, but, as researchers have shown, generalisations and stereotypes are still apparent in school textbooks. This article discusses some general and problematic areas that pertain to textbooks. The focus is on what critical issues we need to take into consideration when discussing or performing textbook production and how we can think about these.     

Orientalism(s), world geography textbooks,and temporal paradox: questioning representations of Southwest Asia and North Africa

In this critical discourse analysis of six high-school world geography textbooks, we explore how constructions and representations of North Africa and Southwest Asia have served to reinforce Orientalist discourse in formal curriculum. Visual and written representations in these textbooks were overwhelmingly confounded by a traditional/modern dichotomy that constructed a paradoxical “Muslim world.” Gender and religion coding perpetuated the temporal paradox with women and Islam used as symbols of the traditional in need of western modernization. This paper begins with a contextualization of the study of textbooks and addresses investigations of media portrayals of Muslims, Arabs, and Islam. We then describe our theoretical grounding in criticalist perspectives and detail methods of analysis. Lastly, we present the three themes revealed through analysis and conclude with recommendations for enhancing geographic literacy in schools.     

古代中国散文、诗歌的欧洲之旅及"东方学"宿命

古代时期中国文学在欧洲的传播之旅,成为中国文化进入西方的重要方式,以“四书”为代表的散文,《诗经》为代表的诗歌,在中国古代都已进入了欧洲人的视野,在西方人面前展现了中华文明的灿烂形象,但是由于文化的隔阂和自我文化的优越感,西方人（欧洲为主）对中国文化存在偏见,使中国文学的欧洲之旅陷入了“东方学”的视野之中,成为西方想像与描述中国的基础材料,他们根据自己的需要制作、驯化、建构了中国文化与文学形象,所以中国文学的欧洲之行在很大程度上受到了误读、误用,以至肢解、歪曲。     

A PALEONTOLOGY OF STYLE

This article looks at the commonly understood rules and guidelines, which are set out and regularly modified in the Associated Press Stylebook, for how news about the Middle East “ought” to look and sound for US readers. By examining official news language longitudinally across a period from before the Iranian revolution to the second decade of the “war on terror,” it finds patterns that shed light not only on the normal evolution of news language but on the particularly Orientalized features of news about the Middle Eastern “other.” These findings are especially relevant in an era of shrinking newsroom resources in which centrally determined features of language are, increasingly, national decisions.     

亚洲传统武术“正宗性”的发明

文章通过对亚洲传统武术"正宗性"的审视,探寻亚洲传统武术的"正宗性"与"非正宗性"的二元论在西方人意象中的这一现状,分析西方人对亚洲传统武术"正宗性"的渴望以及亚洲在传承过程中"正宗性"流变的必然性等问题。与此同时,研究运用德里达解构主义从微观本体论的角度提出了"亚洲传统武术在传承过程中的改变是不可避免的"这一论述。为进一步证实此观点,以太极拳为案例研究讨论了改变的形式、改变的内容,以及传统太极拳在西方的表现特点。文章意在呼吁全世界的武术学者与传承者传播正确的知识,而不是过度地追求"发明"的"正宗性"。     

Rethinking the ‘Western Tradition’

Abstract

In recent years, the ‘Western tradition’ has increasingly come under attack in anti-colonialist and postmodernist discourses. It is not difficult to sympathise with the concerns that underlie advocacy of historically marginalised traditions, and the West undoubtedly has a lot to answer for. Nonetheless, while arguing a qualified yes to the central question posed for this special issue, we question the assumption that the West can be neatly distinguished from alternative traditions of thought. We argue that there is fundamental implicit and explicit agreement across traditions about the most difficult of issues and on standards about how to reason about them and that the ‘West’ has demonstrably learned from within and without itself. But, we question the very viability under conditions of heightened globalisation and neo-colonialism of distinguishing between thought of the ‘West’ and thought outside the West. It is time to move beyond the reified assumptions that underlie the idea of ‘Western thought’, cast as an agent with a collective purpose.     

从东方学视角解析电影《喜福会》中的华裔形象

《喜福会》以华裔女性为主题,描述了四对华裔母女之间的恩恩怨怨、感情冲突和心理隔膜。本文尝试结合萨义德的东方学批判理论考察王颖电影《喜福会》中的华裔形象,认为该影片并未脱离东方学的理论框架,而是将华裔"他者化"了,是对华裔形象的又一次误读。     

庞德翻译研究中东方主义视角的质疑

庞德在翻译中出现的诸多错译和误译是他为了构建新的诗学、重塑西方文明等原因对中国文字、诗歌和文化进行选择的结果。是他对中国文字、诗歌和文化进行理想化想象的产物，是把中国无限美好的浪漫误读，跟东方主义式的贬抑性误读是截然不同的。我们不能无视东方主义理论在研究对象、研究方法以及研究策略等方面的特殊性，将它生搬硬套、用来看待庞德翻译的错译和误译，这样才不致失于学理的偏颇。避免得出牵强的结论。     

东方主义视野下华裔女性作家的言说策略

东方主义的一个重要支点在于东西方关系的二分法上,具体来说就是先进与落后、优与劣之分。美国华裔女作家为了融入美国主流文化,获得美国作家的身份,通过不同的言说策略,不自觉地成为美国东方主义的同谋。     

“东方主义”话语的建构与解构——《女勇士》中的中国女性形象评析

汤亭亭在《女勇士》一书中,既有对＂东方主义＂话语的建构,同时也有对这种话语的解构。我们可以从小说塑造的几位中国女性形象入手,解读这两种活动的具体操作。《女勇士》所反映出来的＂东方主义＂话语与其对立面＂西方主义＂话语都是一种非理性的思维模式。只有东西双方不再妖魔化对方,才能建立起一种平等的对话模式。