LingPoet Vol.
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229Ae235
LINGPOET
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Journal homepage: https://talenta.
id/lingpoet/ Introducing Criticizing of Orientalism from Within Halimah Mohamed Ali*1 Universiti Sains Malaysia Corresponding Author: halimah@usm.
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Received 14 August 2025 Revised 2 September 2025 Accepted 28 September 2025 Available online http://talenta.
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Introducing Criticism of Orientalism from Within.
LingPoet: Journal of Linguistics and Literary Research, 6.
, 229-235.
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ABSTRACT
This paper outlines the theoretical framework Criticising Orientalism From Within (C.
) that foregrounds the methodology of research for the thesis Orientalism From Within: A Critical Study Of Pandering And Catering To The West In Three Contemporary Indian-English Novels .
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the book Orientalism from Within Arundhati Roy and Her Contemporaries .
Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The workings of imperialism and neo-colonialism in the contemporary situation is pitted against postcolonialism via Indian-English literature, and explored in the chapter titled Criticising Orientalism From Within specifically and the study generally.
This chapter is an eclectic fusion of six modern theorists.
The slant or methodology used is criticism and analysis of the three novels vis-y-vis an eclectic or diverse theoretical framework.
However, this paper concentrates on Dipankar GuptaAos book India is for Sale and his term Orientalism from Within that this research has borrowed, adapted and adopted as a title to the theoretical framework, the thesis, and the book mentioned above.
All the other theorists employed to create the theoretical framework will be discussed generally.
Keyword: Criticising Orientalism From Within.
Postcolonialism.
Pandering.
Catering.
Imperialism.
Neo-Colonialism Introduction This paper outlines the theoretical framework Criticising Orientalism From Within (C.
) that foregrounds the methodology of research for the thesis Orientalism From Within: A Critical Study Of Pandering And Catering to The West In Three Contemporary Indian-English Novels .
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the book Orientalism from Within Arundhati Roy and Her Contemporaries .
Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The workings of imperialism and neo-colonialism in the contemporary situation is pitted against postcolonialism via Indian-English literature and explored in the chapter titled Criticising Orientalism From Within specifically and the study generally.
This chapter is an eclectic fusion of six modern theorists.
The slant or methodology used is criticism and analysis of the three novels vis-y-vis an eclectic or diverse theoretical framework.
is eclectic because of the nature of the theories.
Said is based within the postcolonial realm He ardently criticizes Western colonialism, and this places him as a pure postcolonial critic.
I have made use of Edward SaidAos famous work Orientalism .
, and a later text.
Culture And Imperialism .
that transpired from the many discussions of Orientalism.
These two texts form the basis of my argument that the Indian-English novels discussed in my thesis are presenting Orientalism from within the Indian cultural setup and diaspora.
Orientalism pioneered discussions on postcolonialism.
It is the first theoretical text on the Two equally well known and important figures in postcolonial discourse Franz Fanon and Homi K.
Bhabha who conceive the idea of mimicry and hybridity and the idea of the nation albeit from different nations and time frames have also been utilized.
Fanon too is a postcolonial critic, whose ideas have been employed by Said in both his works.
I see him as the father of postcolonial thought and theory.
Apart from being a postcolonial thinker, he is a psychologist.
LingPoet Vol.
No.
229Ae235 as is dominantly reflected in one of his works Black Skin.
White Masks .
0 &1.
Fanon is a critic of colonialism that triggered and influenced people like Said and Bhabha to discuss postcolonialism and the aftereffects of colonialism.
His two much acclaimed works The Wretched Of The Earth .
7 &1.
and Black Skin White Masks .
0 &.
concentrate on French colonialism of Africa and how it has affected the Bhabha is a postcolonial thinker who criticizes the natives more than he does the West.
His theories on hybridity, mimicry, and the third space have evolved from FanonAos works.
He offers solutions to the postcolonial problem of the identity of the Other and his nation state through his discourse .
0 and 1.
BhabhaAos discourse on mimicry and hybridity has been influenced by FanonAos work, but BhabhaAos writings discuss the Indian mimicry and hybridity that were triggered by the British colonizersAo policy.
He is a poststructuralist that writes with a postcolonial mindset.
His much-discussed essays Introduction: narrating the nation .
Dissemination: time, narrative and the margins of the modern nation .
and his book The Location of Culture .
contribute to the framework.
The notion of how narratives form a nation are discussed vis-y-vis the India presented in the three fictional works chosen for the research.
The concepts mimicry and hybridity helped me glean into, first, how the Indian-English texts are hybrid writings produced by hybrid individuals and the various means used by the writers to mimic the Western framework that has molded Western writings.
Second, the way that the mimic and hybrid characters are portrayed in the novels.
This research bracket the three theorists as classical thinkers of postcolonialism.
The other three contemporary theorists emulate them closely.
They are culturalist in form.
The works that contribute to this research are Ziauddin SardarAos PostmodernismaAnd The Other: The New Imperialism Of Western Culture .
Dipankar GuptaAos Mistaken Modernity: India Between Worlds .
and Amartya SenAos essay India and the West: our distortions and their consequences .
Sardar is a postmodern and postcolonial scholar who argues that colonialism has not ended, and postmodernism is an extension of the Western influence and control over the Other.
He creates a difference through his criticism of postcolonial writers, whom he labels as postmodernists, who pander and cater to the West for financial gain.
This is where the classics and the moderns diverge.
While the classics criticize the colonizers bluntly and question the nativeAos identity, the modern censure and question postcolonialism per say as well as the nativeAos intent when he or she writes about the Other.
Gupta is as critical as Sardar of the native intellectuals.
He, like Sardar, states that financial gain is what prods the Other to pander and cater to the West.
Sen is not as strict with the Indian writers as the other two thinkers are.
However, all three critics of postcolonialism agree that the West uses the Indians to revel in exotica and erotica from India.
Gupta, a postcolonial sociologist, discusses the Indian situation whereby India though it is far from modern, has moved away from the stereotype image that has been surrounding it.
These theories are an avenue from which I structure and strengthen my argument that the Indian-English novels discussed in this thesis are providing for its readers, who are conversant in English and are predominantly Western, pictures of India that the readers are familiar with through Orientalist discourses.
The nation that is narrated by these writers, though it gives glimpses of India and its culture that has been present since antiquity does not necessarily manifest the authentic India.
Sen, an economist and a culturalist argues, in his essay that three approaches have been used by writers to describe India: magisterial, exoticist and investigative.
He declares that two of these approaches, magisterial and exoticist have greatly influenced the IndiansAo perceptions of themselves.
The magisterial approach shows the gazer that is the West as superior to the Other.
Using SenAos theory, this research analyze how the three novels have been influenced by the different approaches that he has mentioned and whether the writers too use similar approaches in their writings.
This research introduces the framework of Criticising Orientalism From Within (C.
), which draws upon both classical postcolonial theorists (Said.
Fanon.
Bhabh.
and later culturalist critics (Sardar.
Gupta.
Se.
While postcolonial studies have long examined how colonial discourse shaped representations of the Orient, less attention has been given to how native writers themselves reproduce Orientalist tropes for Western is proposed as a critical lens to address this gap by highlighting the interplay between pandering to Western expectations and sustaining neo-colonial discourses in Indian-English literature.
LingPoet Vol.
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229Ae235 Edward EdwardSaid Said Dipankar Gupta Homi HomiK.
Bhabha
Bhabha Dipankar Gupta
Franz
Amartya
FranzFanon
Fanon
AmartyaSen
Sen
Ziauddin
ZiauddinSardar
Sardar
1978&&1993
1990&&1994
1952&&1961
Reveals Reveals ofOrientalism Orientalism Reveals Reveals Postspace Postmodernism as neoneocolonial Westoxication Westoxication Figure 1.
Criticizing Orientalism From Within (C.
Method The study employs Criticising Orientalism From Within (C.
) as its theoretical and methodological framework.
Three contemporary Indian-English novels were selectedAiA Fine Balance (Mistry, 2.
A Suitable Boy (Seth, 1.
, and The God of Small Things (Roy, 1.
Aibecause of their critical reception in the West and their frequent engagement with themes of caste, modernity, and cultural The novels were examined through close textual analysis, focusing on how narrative strategies, characterizations, and cultural depictions align with or challenge Orientalist discourses.
The framework integrates six theorists: SaidAos Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism.
FanonAos critiques of colonial BhabhaAos concepts of hybridity and mimicry.
SardarAos critique of postmodernism.
GuptaAos notion of Westoxication and Orientalism from Within.
and SenAos categories of magisterial, exoticist, and investigative This eclectic combination allows the study to juxtapose Western Orientalism with its reproduction by native writers.
Interpretations are reflexively grounded in postcolonial critique, with the aim of exposing how neo-colonial agendas operate through literary texts.
The framework of C.
, shown in Figure 1, is used to argue that the selected novels, although written by native Indians residing either in India or abroad, represent an extension of Western Orientalism.
employing Western literary tools of form and language, these works reproduce archetypal depictions of India and thereby enact Orientalism from within.
As the analysis develops, it becomes clear that this study follows a path similar to SaidAos Orientalism .
, which dismantled the prevailing notions of Western literary and intellectual superiority in relation to Raj literature.
In this case, however, the focus is on works of fiction authored by Indians who have long been celebrated within Western Orientalist discourse.
What emerges is a mechanism in which these writers, consciously or otherwise, market their narratives to Western audiences in exchange for recognition and success, offering portrayals of India shaped by erotica, exotica, religion, culture, people, and history.
The framework shapes the methodology of this research by clarifying its critical orientation.
It situates Western Orientalism alongside forms of Orientalism that arise from within the Indian setting and psyche, and it draws upon broader debates on colonialism and postcolonialism.
At the same time, it interrogates the Western agenda through six major theorists and argues that neo-colonialism has replaced earlier modes of colonial and imperial domination in postcolonial states.
The framework affirms the value of human dignity, cultural freedom, and religious and racial equality in India and across the Global South, even when such concerns are mediated through works of fiction.
It supports the central claim that Indian-English novelists frequently accommodate Western expectations and, in doing so, reproduce a neo-colonial logic by presenting narratives that emphasize exotica and erotica.
Finally, it extends this critique to the problem of caste by incorporating the notion of passing, culminating in the analysis of A Fine Balance, where the dynamics of caste-passing are examined with reference to the African-American passing paradigm discussed earlier in the The theories provide the foundation for the arguments and guide the interpretation of the texts.
This study takes the form of a review of Third World philosophers and supports the thesis that the Other continues to pander to and accommodate the Occident.
In this sense, it affirms the direction suggested by the title.
Orientalism From Within: A Critical Study of Pandering and Catering to the West in Three Contemporary Indian-English Novels.
LingPoet Vol.
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229Ae235 Results and Discussion Orientalism from Within Based on the theories used, shown in Figure 1.
1 above, the overall framework of Criticising Orientalism From Within (C.
) has been conceptualized.
Now, with the framework in mind we investigate and discuss a postmodern Third World philosopher.
The intellectual is Indian and he is influenced by the classical discourse of postcolonialism.
In this section I will discuss Dipankar GuptaAos Mistaken Modernity: India Between Worlds .
and his idea of Orientalism From Within.
It is a concept that explains how postcolonial writers and thinkers carry out the Western agenda of neo-colonialism for financial gain.
His theory engulfs my project of Criticising Orientalism From Within (C.
However, here my project merits further explanation.
I borrow the term from him to label the theoretical framework that I have created.
I have used Said.
Fanon and Bhabha to forecast this part of the theoretical The next three theorists discussed echo the previous three philosophers in thought and criticism of the West.
However, they create new ideas and methodologies to criticize the West via their intense criticism of their own people, with special reference to the intellects.
Westoxication Gupta states traditional India was the most stratified society in the world.
It ritually sanctioned separation among humans based on caste (Gupta 2000: .
Fictional works take up ideas from sociological research and the day to day India.
Since the caste system has not been eradicated though in a lot of ways changes have occurred.
Indian-English writers use this phenomenon, which is intrinsically Indian, and is exotic to the West to grab Western attention.
The caste system is not alien to the West.
It can be juxtaposed with the class system.
However, the caste system is exotic and different from the Western class stratification because religious rituals support it.
Effects of caste stratification are still evident today.
Though industrialization and democratic politics have made a difference Authere is still a long way to goAy (Gupta, 2000: .
The change is slow to come because Gupta argues that members of the traditional elite have conquered industrialization and politics (Gupta, 2000:
In India, the traditional elites are descendants of the upper caste Indians.
Yet, it is sad to note that where the new ruling class has replaced the traditional elite, they have not replaced the values of their predecessors with a more modern outlook (Gupta, 2000: 3-.
Gupta argues that IndiaAos middle class depends on the poor Indians to ensure its lifestyle thus making its democratic principles weak.
These middle-class Indians for their own purpose do not intend to create a larger middle class Indian society via modernity because they will lose more than what they gain (Gupta 2000: 9-.
The losses will be in their labour force since most of the Untouchables are labourers.
It is a birthright of the caste brethrens to perform certain duties, which fall into religious categories.
Imperialist Western history has influenced the East much.
However, critical discourses on that influence have emerged and are still being produced, and Gupta is one of them.
His work is influenced by FanonAos and BhabhaAos concepts of mimicry and hybridity.
The colonial past has deeply taken root in the consciousness of IndiaAos elite and has affected their ways of thinking without them realizing that they are AuOrientalistAy products (Gupta, 2000: .
I consider the Indian-English writers who are upper middle-class elites as the Aochildren of the WestAo.
They feed upon India, which with its millions of inhabitants, its vast territory, its many cultures, and languages is distinct from other countries especially the West.
As the West was intrigued with IndiaAos diversity and strangeness, the contemporary writers bring to their Western readers an unchanged India, the India that is familiar to the West.
The very images that were depicted by Orientalist writers remain unaltered in the fictions under research.
To understand the psyche of the Indian-English writer we have to understand GuptaAos ideas on modernity.
Westernization and Westoxication.
Modernity according to him is an ongoing process and is never ending (Gupta, 2000: .
Gupta equates modernity with Westernization.
He argues that when people complain against Westernization they are actually complaining against Westoxication (Gupta, 2000: .
He argues that Westernization is the Auestablishment of universalistic norms and the privileging of achievement over birthAy (Gupta 2000: .
Westoxication, a term that Gupta has derived from Jalal-e-ahmad an Iranian intellectual, applies to Ausuperficial consumerist display of commodities and fads produced in the WestAy (Gupta, 2000: .
Gupta argues that Westoxicated people are not truly Westernized, because they use the privilege of their birth and superiority of wealth and power to Auflaunt the social distance over the restAy (Gupta, 2000: .
Their dwelling and lifestyles are alien to the lifestyle of the majority.
In the Westoxicated society consumer items and aesthetic preferences are totally imported from the West Auwithout indigenous mediationAy (Gupta, 2000:
LingPoet Vol.
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229Ae235 This means that the natives are not involved in bringing in artifacts from the West into their country.
The Westoxicated individuals prefer foreign goods to local ones.
Westernization, according to Gupta equals respect for others and it is not a purely voluntary act.
Respect for others Gupta says can protect citizenship rights and help achieve greater social mobility (Gupta, 2000: .
Gupta argues that the greater the Westoxication, the lesser the Westernization (Gupta, 2000: .
Westernization on the other hand is not about fads or Western artifacts.
Someone can be Westernized without owning Western artifacts.
It is important to separate Westernization and Westoxication (Gupta, 2000: .
However.
Gupta accedes that the Western world is not ideal, because it too has its share of problems and has Westoxicated individuals.
Yet, heightened consumerism and its effects are not so offensive in the West because Western consumerism is based on a strong middle class that Auhas a wide baseAy (Gupta 2000: .
Due to the degradation and poverty that is seen in developing countries, this has been tackled by the West long ago.
should be noted that Western middle-class consumerism is not a Ausymbol of wealth and of cultural alienationAy (Gupta, 2000: .
Westoxicated people create a third space for their community.
On the other hand.
Westernized societies are levelheaded.
The third space that the Westoxicated people create shows that Gupta has been influenced by BhabhaAos theory.
GuptaAos complaint of Westoxication should be noted.
In a Westoxicated society characteristics of a modern Western society in terms of social relations do not exist (Gupta, 2000: .
There is no democracy, little scope for upward mobility and little hope for those outside the circle to get a glimpse inside.
One such example is the government of the Shah of Iran (Gupta, 2000: .
Westoxication is not limited to Iran because it occurs in most developing countries though in varying degrees.
They are more Westoxicated then Westernized (Gupta, 2000: .
India has its share of Westoxicated individuals, which has developed According to Gupta the optical illusion is at work at a popular level and Westoxication is mistaken for Westernization.
Westoxicated individuals are seen as symbols of Westernization.
Ideologically the society is set back several decades by Westoxication (Gupta, 2000: .
For Gupta Westoxicated individuals are elites who have no sense of citizenship and appreciation of universal values.
Though they have adopted Western clothes and manners it does not mean that they have assumed Western values.
Their clothes and mannerisms only assert the traditional snobbery (Gupta, 2000: .
Gupta has problematized the concept of Westernization by discussing Westoxication against it.
Westoxication needs to be explained and elaborated since it is alien to many people.
The material Westoxication, according to Gupta, is complemented by ideological Westoxication and the main carrier is the Indian elite class (Gupta, 2000: 16-.
The Westoxicated Indians adopt Western prejudices without thinking whether they will hurt the country and people because they see themselves as different from the rest of their countrymen (Gupta 2000: .
They do not consider the Western democratic tradition, rather they Aupander to the petty Western prejudices in the hope that this will win them quick recognition abroadAy (Gupta 2000: .
My reading shows that the Indian-English writers can be identified as the Westoxicated individuals that Gupta The reason for it will be explained in the analysis.
Western Oriental Gentoos In this subsection I discuss the terms gentoo.
Western Oriental Gentlemen and Western Oriental Gentoos as introduced by Gupta .
These are labels that he uses to describe native Indians as seen by the West.
The phenomenon of Westoxication was generated by the British colonizers.
According to Gupta the British divided the Indians during colonialism into two categories, gentlemen and gentoos.
Gupta quotes MacaulayAos definition of the Indian gentlemen AuAa class of persons.
Indians in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions and in intellectAy (Gupta, 2000: .
They are equal to FanonAos native intellectuals.
On the other hand, those that Gupta labels as gentoos were Indians who were seen as barbarians, idolators who Aucould not be saved from their original conditionAy (Gupta, 2000: .
They are Austeeped in superstition, religion, rituals and mindless devotion to custom and traditionAy (Gupta, 2000: .
GuptaAos arguments echo Said.
Fanon and Bhabha who claim the same thing since he epitomizes them.
Gupta describes the Other brilliantly.
He says during colonialism the British preferred the Westernized Oriental Gentleman (WOG) because they could and would act as intermediaries and may save the gentoos from Ausliding too low down the gutterAy (Gupta, 2000: .
Now the West still likes WOGs, but a different kind.
TodayAos WOG is the Westoxicated Oriental Gentoo and the situation has shifted because Western patronage has turned from Oriental gentlemen to Oriental gentoos (Gupta 2000: .
These Westernized Oriental Gentoos are declared by Western scholars and intellectuals as the Auauthentic IndiansAy (Gupta 2000: .
Ironically now the West wants to save India from the gentlemen with Aumodernist impulses and drivesAy (Gupta, 2000: .
The Western mind would like to Aupreserve the gentoo way of lifeAy in India.
(Gupta 2000: .
GuptaAos argument strengthens my thesis that fictions that are written by Indians are accepted and even applauded in the West LingPoet Vol.
No.
229Ae235 because they are saying what the West wants to hear.
The more depraved and atrocious India is in the fictions the better, because this is the picture of India that the West has in its mind and always wants to have.
How does the occidental Orientalist treat the Other? The West prefers gentoos to educated Indians who are intellectually at par with them in the realm of science and technology, because ideologically the West believes it is superior to the rest of the World due to its Aupure cultural geniusAy (Gupta 2000: .
When people from outside their culture can contribute to knowledge, which the West has trademarked as its own, it destroys the arrogance that has been inflected in Western ideologies (Gupta 2000: .
When Western ego is attacked, the Occident retaliates.
During the nineteenth century the West could have easily and without a doubt denounce Eastern knowledge (Gupta 2000: .
However, now Aucontemporary sensibilitiesAy hold them back from Othering the East so bluntly (Gupta 2000: .
Today the West still separates the Orient, but by using subtle and Auendearing termsAy (Gupta 2000: .
The Orient is referred to as Aucute and cuddlyAy while the West is Ausmart and matter of factAy (Gupta 2000: .
Indian-English fiction is one tool used to mind map the Other for neo-colonial purposes.
The Western thesis for the Other is to stay inferior.
To the West AuTrue Oriental spiritAy is Aunot in pursuit of technological and organisational prowess but in remaining pure and poorAy (Gupta 2000: .
Gupta argues that the new WOG understands this and in books and articles that are Aufavourably reviewed abroadAy where AuJawaharlal Nehru is castigated as a ruthless modernist and Mahatma Gandhi is eulogised for staying close to his traditional and native Indian geniusAy (Gupta 2000: .
This is because the new WOGs like the old WOGs seek Western AuindulgenceAy.
Many new WOGs are Auhostile to modern scienceAy and they view it as foreign and destructive to Indians.
They prefer Indians Auto live according to their traditional smritis and srutisAandAtheir undeveloped egosAy (Gupta, 2000: .
The irony is that those who advocate this vein of thought are either educated in the West or within a western system.
These are gentlemen who believe that they can speak on behalf of gentoos (Gupta, 2000: .
The writers selected for this research are English educated, and they fit GuptaAos description of the WOG precisely.
Gupta labels the WOG phenomenon as Orientalism From Within.
The spokes persons for Indians do not acknowledge the Indian intellectual power, because such qualities are reserved by them only for Europeans and Americans.
To them AuAIndians can be beautiful and brown, but not brilliantAy (Gupta, 2000: .
I perceive that politically correct notions today have made Western intellectuals cautious of their opinions about the East.
Yet, my research shows that the Western view of the Other has not radically changed.
Prejudices still exist and modernity does not automatically change that.
Because they are afraid of being labeled as Orientalists AuWestern intellectuals would rather an Oriental say all those things about Oriental folksAy (Gupta, 2000: .
Gupta argues that it is difficult to come across Western scholars who would say that Autheir own nation-states are fallaciousAy but they are AuhappyAy to Ausubsidise an Indian who says so about his own countryAy (Gupta, 2000:
According to Gupta .
0: .
: While contemporary Western intellectuals would not like to be quoted in the feminine, childlike and traditionalist qualities of Indians, they are more than willing to pay return fares to hear an Indian say what they have always wanted to hear.
This is certainly true of the Indian-English writers that are under research.
These writers after having published their books in the West go on tour in the Western countries to promote their work.
They are often invited to give talks at centers of higher education in the West for they are seen as spokes persons of India via their fiction.
Gupta has clearly outlined Orientalism From Within.
As a concept it carries out for the West the agenda of neo-colonialism for financial gain.
Neo-colonialism advocates Westoxication, which means the Other that is mired in extreme Western ways.
These are the types that the West loves.
The other sort that the West prefers are Western Oriental Gentoos.
These are natives (Indian.
who are hampered in superstition, religion, rituals and uncritically devoted to custom and tradition.
The term Orientalism From Within runs supreme in the thesis and the book, and is the basis of the theoretical framework: C.
It is the result of the amalgamation of the ways of thought of the six theorists introduced and discussed in this chapter.
Conclusion The theoretical framework of C.
, developed through the discussion of the theorists and illustrated in Figure 1.
1, emphasizes the shift from Western political imperialism, which worked alongside Orientalism until the early twentieth century, to its present forms of cultural and economic imperialism.
Orientalism from within, produced by native Indian writers, has not replaced Western Orientalism but has instead sustained it.
The analysis shows that Indian-English fiction continues to follow this pattern.
The novels examined here reproduce colonial-era stereotypes and frame India through images of exotica in its people, landscapes, culture, institutions, and politics.
They also rely on eroticized portrayals, reinforcing the orientalist tropes that once legitimized empire.
LingPoet Vol.
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229Ae235 These novels that are written according to the Western schema duplicate the masters.
Two of them A Fine Balance and A Suitable Boy duplicate Western classics such as works of Dickens.
Eliot and Austen.
This is done in the style that is used to write the way characters are portrayed and how the narrative is told.
God of Small Things duplicates postmodern narratives though it does not use the magic realism that is analogous to postmodern narratives.
Yet, the clever way that the language is employed, and the way the story jumps back and forth from past to present is a reflection of postmodernism.
All three novels are postmodernist in the sense that they re-tell Indian history via fiction.
This is one of the important traits of postmodern fiction as Sardar has pointed out in his work.
The writings also perform Orientalism as they reiterate Western ideologies that have been around since Enlightenment.
The idea of equality is postulated by portraying the lack of it that is present in the Indian social hierarchy due to the caste system.
Religious believes are also mocked, and democracy is applauded while Communism, as in God of Small Things, is criticized and rendered as corrupt and impractical.
These are only a few Western ideals that I have identified initially.
Details of Western ideology that is present in the writings have been discussed in the subsequent chapters of the thesis and the book.
The theories also point to the fact that cultural exercises Ae novels, cinema, and music are very important in building a worldview and perception.
The West recognizes this fact, thus the scramble for Third World art and fiction.
Theoretical texts are not much read by the public, but there is a much larger market for fiction.
Via Third World creative writing the West can still promote Orientalism, but a home-grown version that is reiterated by native writers vis-y-vis the rigid Orientalist ideas made fashionable by the West.
This is not a new means employed by the West to influence the world and to degrade the Other, it has only replaced the actors at the fore though the director remains the West.
Orientalism From Within is what the native writers of Third World countries produce when they either consciously or unknowingly reproduce Western Orientalist ideas in their fiction.
By doing so they meet the Western expectations and manage to sell their work in the West.
The minds of the Other are still colonized.
Colonialism has not ended.
Now is the era of neo-colonialism via pandering and catering to the West by the Other vis-y-vis their products, and one of them is their written discourse.
References