After Jeremy Armstrong’s lecture, something that stuck with me was his initial description of Eastern vs. Western war during his recorded lecture. From what I understand, this initial 10 minutes of his talk was a presentation of the ‘stereotypes’ that these terms represent. The impact of this imagery is a contrast that rings all too familiar.
Classic military propaganda tropes; the ‘West’ consisting of “strong, brave” soldiers that could not stay out at war for long periods of time because they had “homes” to get back to. Eastern soldiers? They don’t have homes or families – no, they are deceptive cheats that don’t play by the rules and have no “sense of etiquette”. Alongside the dehumanisation of the ‘enemy’ necessary to rationalise their slaughter, there lies the all too common idea that war is traditionally lawful. War is, and always has been, sanctioned murder. The reasons behind wars shift, the puppeteers overseeing the destruction change, however, death and suffering is a given.
My research essay was based on the current war in Yemen – a war that is effectively erasing a nation – and during the writing of my paper I was reminded of just how much of the Middle East and Arab nations are defined by war and corruption. Our generation has grown up with the realities of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen as warzones. While we learnt about the triumphs and complexities of European power battles of the past, my memory of the ‘East’ in school was the chaos and hopelessness of the Israel-Palestine conflict. I recognized that I had been trained to think of ‘Western war’ as sophisticated history and ‘Eastern war’ as ongoing, unruly, unresolvable conflicts. It is through personal experience with people around me that I was able to associate more than starving UNICEF orphans and violent antagonists with these places when I was younger. It’s easy to forget that once, these nations were known for more than their destruction.
Interestingly, these ‘Eastern wars’ are often made possible by the generosity of the US and UK – sort of blurs the lines of corruption, doesn’t it? Even in Armstrong’s presentation this dichotomy can be seen: the PowerPoint slide for ‘Western war’ contains images of Roman art, a Roman army and a still of the traditional British army. All grounded in the past; cultured and mighty. Meanwhile, ‘Eastern War’ is presented by the confusing collection of a modern portrait of Putin, a black and white photo of what looks to be Vietnamese soldiers, and images of the Persians covered in eyeliner from the movie ‘300’… not quite the same vibe. But, in a perfect example of war’s impact on society, an apt portrayal of how ‘Eastern’ nations are presented in the media to this day.
Some of the Daily Mirror’s best reporting.
At this point, the only reliably unbiased news stories are about cute animals and their unlikely friends! And someone may need to remind Hollywood that it doesn’t count as representation if ‘diverse’ characters play purely off stereotypes, and footage of ‘foreign lands’ is manipulated to play into condescending narratives.
Did someone say sepia?
There is the typical sepia-toned Mexico; a nation of cacti and stacks of cocaine. Or the Muslims; carefully concealed in sand-covered blacks and shouting loud angry Arabic from behind guns. And of course, a Russian accent is basically synonymous with being a government spy.
Quite honestly, I get tired of having to be skeptical of everything I see on mainstream media, but funnily enough, I have learnt more about global history on my Instagram feed and through discussions with friends than during my entire high school education. To be a ‘responsible consumer’ today, essentially means you cannot trust what you see. It’s frustrating. But I do think it has engrained the importance of thinking for ourselves. More people are taking the initiative to self-educate in order to be better people and better supporters of marginalised voices, and even spreading this through social media. So maybe, amongst the collection of dumpster-fires that the world so often seems to be, there is some hope for the future after all. They do say that things get worse before they get better…
This is so great Noor! Many of your points jumped out at me and sound like something out of a TEDTalks.
I totally agree. Through personal experience, you learn to peel away the labels the world throws at you and tells you to believe. One of my first friends was a girl from Syria. When we started brainstorming our speeches, the older students automatically thought she’d write hers about the Syrian war. She didn’t – instead, writing about everything about Syria BUT the war. It was only later that I realized how easy it is to fall for everything you’re told, taking one a single aspect of somebody and blowing it up until that’s all they are.
One of the books I’m reading at the moment is Amartya Sen’s ‘Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny.” He talks about how we compartmentalize each other and make assumptions based on a singular identity, when really we’re all a collection of identities. It’s completely changed the way I see the world’s divisions. So much of identity is a myth, carefully constructed by someone else to subordinate another.
I guess that’s the good thing about social media, it lets us see how people want to portray themselves instead of letting the world decide for them – and I completely agree, talking to people is sometimes more informative than checking the news. The important thing is to pick up on these stereotypes and these carefully made ‘truths,’ before they stain your thoughts and then your actions.
I loved this! I’m going to keep an eye out for your next post 🙂
Noor, once again you do not fail to impress! I remember us having a similar conversation in high school during tutor period, of how the poor representation in the middle east was of American design. Kinda made me a skeptic when Mr Brown use to praise Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. The puppet master has the power to make change yet don’t. A large degree of atuocriticies in the middle east has been caused by the detriment, of American foreign policy decisions. The Iraq War, the creation of the Taliban to name only a few, yet the same heavy-handed rhetoric is used with the same result being produced. You cannot trust what you see because media always comes from an American lense, to the point where events like combat engagements become normalized and journalists running for cover seems to be more of a dramatic effect than a life threat. The surprising fact I learned this year was TWAIL scholarship (Third World Perspectives to International Law), so much of International Law represents a colonial mindset, and yet we are still forced to accept the domineering powers of the security council, who time and time again have made less than moral foreign policy decisions. There is no international police force that leaves the international system as a constant anarchical system forever bound by bigger army diplomacy. A indulgance body delivering scant justice.