Abstract
The age of discovery is one of the most important periods in human history whose effects continue to be seen. In this period, the world was traveled by European sailors, new continents were discovered, and the discovered resources, work, and labor power flowed to Europe. All these developments have led to changes in the perception of the East in the West. Orientalism, defined as the manifestation of the West on the East, has found a place in art, literature, all kinds of written or printed media, especially cinema. The purpose of the study is to examine the domination structures starting with colonialism in the context of orientalism through the narratives of cinema in light of information. The narrative of 12 Years a Slave (2013) was examined using the discourse analysis method which is one of the qualitative text analysis. As a result, it was seen that the dialogues, images, character depictions, and the language used played an important role in the presentation of the othering; the white man was in the role of savior/god/good, and this situation was also supported by metaphors.
TopIntroduction
European-type colonialism, which contains an important turning point in human history, has continued from the discovery to the present day by going through different stages and changing its form. The transformation experienced with the technical and technological developments in the seas has affected societies, nations and peoples. Exploitation scheme while European nations made the world the owners of the world, the exploited were subjected to extinction, assimilation, slaughter and domination and worked to meet all kinds of needs. In the light of the above information, the topics discussed in the study are examined through the movie 12 Years a Slave (2013), directed by Steve McQueen. Accordingly, the main factors that created the age of discoveries were discussed in the first part of the study. The effects of European explorers' discovery of new continents were examined along with the developments in the seas. The practices of Europeans in the discovered regions, the reform movements that are the transformation in the minds after the mission they have taken, are discussed in this context. In the next section, colonial activities and strategies of colonialism are discussed in the context of ideology, power and knowledge notions, and attention is drawn to the discovery of the slave trade and America with colonialism. The mass murders committed by Europeans in America are given in the form of tables. In the next section, othering and orientalism headings, information about orientalism is conveyed by examining it together with the definition of marginalization, which is the scope of orientalism. Explanations were made especially on representation and ideology. In the next chapter, the film review, the narrative named 12 Years A Slave was analyzed according to Van Dijk's method of critical discourse analysis. Accordingly, although the narrative criticizes the white man by criticizing slavery in the basic sense, it implies that the white man is the savior in the sub-texts of the film. The findings obtained are discussed in the conclusion section.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Orientalism: The process of defining and promoting by West to the East.
Slave: A person who is the property of and wholly subject to another and forced to provide unpaid labor.
Colonialism: All kinds of domination by one nation, country, people, community over another.
Representation: Action or speech on behalf of a person, group, business house, state, or the like by an agent, deputy, or representative.
East: Anything outside of the Western definition above.
West: Colonialist experiencing the Reform and Renaissance and Enlightenment stages. Architects of mercantilist, imperialist and capitalist systems.
Other: A person who is not like herself, who is not like herself, who looks at it from a different angle (in a negative sense).
African American: An individual of African origin who has immigrated to America.