Multiculturalism and Its Effect on Australian National Identity

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Drawing on the theoretical and methodological insights by Edward Said (1978), in an attempt to understand (and possibly control, manipulate and/or incorporate) the ‘other’, how has ‘white Australia’ constructed the ‘other’ (e.g., Indigenous Australians; people of Asian or Middle-Eastern appearance)? How has this construction helped define what it is to be an ‘Australian’? Provide examples (e.g., a case-study) and relevant sociological data to support your analysis.

Orientalism refers to the study of mannerism, class, cultures or customs definite to or characteristic of the Orient that has been carried out by the west. The Orient is not merely adjacent to Europe it’s a place in which the oldest and highest of Europe’s colonies used to the source of its civilizations filled with languages, culturally backgrounds the helped gain perspective on the most recurring images of the other. The Orient has helped define Europe or the West as many people pose to call it.

Edward Said maintains that Orientalism can be foreseen as more than just the understanding of the Orient, it also refers to a prejudiced understanding of the Orient in the west. Orientalism takes on many forms in the way it has been perceived throughout the article on orentaliasm written by Edward Said, he suggests a few things one is that Orientalism helped define Europe's self image.

Orientalism describes the approach that non-Western cultures are indentified through the west by researchers, Politian’s, reporters not to mention the society at large. Orientalism emerged throughout the 19th century, when researches sensed that they needed an advance understanding of Asia. Said developed a notion of orientalism and arguing that his form of thought showed more about the valu...

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