From the export of Christian Priests to India around the 17th century to western media today, the Indian Subcontinent has seen its fair share of foreign influences in local culture.
One can sense the influence of the western form of culture in several parts of Nazir Ahmed’s book. For example, in the instance with the English officers at a club where the local natives were mocked for the efforts and dialects, the narrator states: “The English had destroyed our munificence and wealth, business, and trade, art and craft, and spoiled our customs and traditions, dress and manners, our ways of life, religion and science, honor and nobility”. (Chapter 1) One can sense the influence the British were having on the local culture. Destruction of which is of utmost disrespect to the native Indian at the time and today.
"Orientalism is a term used by art historians and literary and cultural studies scholars for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures by writers, designers and artists from the West." It was a term used by Edward Said to depict the negative aspect that non western cultures are shown in the light of western literary works. The book, Ibn ul waqt does not alter from the pre conceived notion as a first time reader might expect from an author who was so close to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. In another passage of the book, the author subliminally goes into inextricable detail into table manners of the British; “The most silly thing he did was that he took the fork in the right hand and knife in the left... Every time he tried to pit anything into his mouth with the help of the fork he failed hopelessly. He could not eat without smearing his nose, chin and cheeks, in fact, his whole face… Then the first time when the attendant wanted to remove the used plates, he thought the whole table would be removed and was about to say something but the attendant, a knowing man, took away the used plate saying that he would bring a fresh one…” (Chapter 6) The passage goes on to explain the difficulties faced by Ibn ul Waqt but nowhere is there a mention of table manners that would exist at higher class eastern culture. This as I might fear, is to educate the reader into western culture while giving minimal knowledge of the positive aspects of the culture of the East. The book itself paints a bleak picture of the native, the orient, while showing the British, the oxidant as being whole hearted, humane, cultured, and organized. Hence one should keep such biases in mind as he goes through this book.
One can sense the influence of the western form of culture in several parts of Nazir Ahmed’s book. For example, in the instance with the English officers at a club where the local natives were mocked for the efforts and dialects, the narrator states: “The English had destroyed our munificence and wealth, business, and trade, art and craft, and spoiled our customs and traditions, dress and manners, our ways of life, religion and science, honor and nobility”. (Chapter 1) One can sense the influence the British were having on the local culture. Destruction of which is of utmost disrespect to the native Indian at the time and today.
"Orientalism is a term used by art historians and literary and cultural studies scholars for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures by writers, designers and artists from the West." It was a term used by Edward Said to depict the negative aspect that non western cultures are shown in the light of western literary works. The book, Ibn ul waqt does not alter from the pre conceived notion as a first time reader might expect from an author who was so close to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. In another passage of the book, the author subliminally goes into inextricable detail into table manners of the British; “The most silly thing he did was that he took the fork in the right hand and knife in the left... Every time he tried to pit anything into his mouth with the help of the fork he failed hopelessly. He could not eat without smearing his nose, chin and cheeks, in fact, his whole face… Then the first time when the attendant wanted to remove the used plates, he thought the whole table would be removed and was about to say something but the attendant, a knowing man, took away the used plate saying that he would bring a fresh one…” (Chapter 6) The passage goes on to explain the difficulties faced by Ibn ul Waqt but nowhere is there a mention of table manners that would exist at higher class eastern culture. This as I might fear, is to educate the reader into western culture while giving minimal knowledge of the positive aspects of the culture of the East. The book itself paints a bleak picture of the native, the orient, while showing the British, the oxidant as being whole hearted, humane, cultured, and organized. Hence one should keep such biases in mind as he goes through this book.
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