Orientalist Perspective on Tourism and Media

The idea of Orientalism has generally been applied to the eastern synthesis as a counterpart to the exotic and imaginary coloring of the west. According to the ideas of Edward Said and many like-minded commentators; Orientalism expresses and represents this section as a form of discourse with institutions, vocabulary, science, images, bureaucracies, and colonialist structures that support it culturally and even ideological way. What types of images should attract attention when interpreting Orientalist messages? Orientalist images interpreted with the eastern images established by the west. While making these comments; Is the power of the media and the way it is projected the same? Images, mystical atmospheres, and even exotic perspectives always have different meanings with projected images.Even the largest part of globalizing human movements such as tourism contributes to the imagination by making use of these exotic images. An Orientalist perspective is developing within a large market cycle. These types of images offer more curiosity and methods that encourage people to see. The fact that the eastern states, which have deep cultural heritage, are seen as excitement can be regarded as an indicator of backwardness to the east. Analyzing the mystical transitions on tourism and the historical structures of cultures from an Orientalist perspective, revealing the sub-messages of the transition angle of thoughts and the reflections in the media, offers different experiences.

One of the reasons for the spread and analysis of the Orientalist discourse is the western states with a colonial structure and the view of the western people towards the east. Because the world ruler spreads in this colonial system, they declare that they have a power of their own, and this power brings them the power of religion, language, and race along with money. The emergence of the professionalization of urbanization, the spread of communicative media, the growth of freedom, and other widely recognized features of modern transformation can be traced back to the implementation of Orientalist policy. (Kopf,1964). For these reasons, they define themselves under the name of 'western' and emphasize their difference from the east. Because the east, according to them, is a community far from these images and experiencing the level of backwardness. Symbolic power is that to construct a hegemonic way of real seeing. ’The Orient, unlike the West, doesn’t develop, it stays the same’’. (Said 1978) . An example of; ‘’Istanbul Timeless City ”. In this tourism advertisement, places to visit in Istanbul are represented by the culture known in the Ottoman period and unique heritage, and this video features the timeless, exotic, and mysterious details of Istanbul. Said, on the other hand, was trying to prove that Orientalism and its powerful representations prevented "Orientals" from representing themselves properly and that he once used Orientalism to strengthen themselves in new global power dynamics.Although there are many semiotic and discourse features of this video, it is necessary to understand at the first stage why the power economy is compatible with tourism. And while doing this analysis, how the superiority of the west is worked out will take into account how the orientalist perspective develops with economy and power. Said acknowledged the influence of other thinkers, such as the British Marxist cultural critic Raymond Williams and the Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci. Used the concept of "hegemony" to explain power and endurance. In the years following Said's publication, Orientalism tended to move away from the rather rigid and bleak view of poststructuralism about the human condition, and instead adopted a more humanitarian position that perpetuates humanitarian action, active political engagement, and possibility in hopes of a better world. (Lockman, 2009). 

On the other hand, The importance of economy and power is a detail to be emphasized while processing Orientalism. Another reflection that has the same great features is the media. By using its own nature decoded and encoded, the media finds a way to convey what is shown to the other audience, as hegemonically differentiating with the perceptions of the other side. Istanbul Timelles City is a good example of how some of the statements in the promotional video seem to be praised but still understand with codes from the opposite side. In the context of marketing and branding destinations, self-orientalist representations are often based on a priori mental structures and perceptions imposed by the western-oriented image of an eastern country. For example, `` Istanbul Timeless City '' is used to reaffirm and intentionally reinforce the practice of self-Orientalism, its western orientalist representation, and perhaps the pre-existing image of an eastern country in the minds of non-Western visitors. This image perception stems from the orientalist discourse. For example, Turkish baths, Turkish coffee, desserts, eastern outfit(orientalist dressing) are both abstract and subjective bias. For example; Turkish hospitality, generosity, friendship, and friendliness. It is interesting to note that many of these representations, while still devoid of urban connotations, occupy an orientalist image built on the legacy of Constantinople. It is also worth noting that these representations are used to market the whole country without focusing on local and different urban identities. This promotional video features some very attractive items. For example, the processing of Ottoman history in today's modern Istanbul. While no one is living in this age, there is a mystical atmosphere as if everyone living in Istanbul is walking around in old traditional palace costumes and oriental dresses. In addition to this, another important element to be aware of is the music symphony, which contains exotic and Ottoman melodies, creates a relaxing and encouraging environment for people to imagine, Orient is actually a pleasure, and these melodies that allow them to get this taste make people feel like a paradise. It creates the impression that every melody of this music will penetrate you and relive that historical integration. Having a versatile history, Istanbul has had an important place in the eyes of westerners throughout history. For this reason, the display of historical sites still bears the traces of these wars. Even in the 21st century, human figures going to war, shown by horses, acquire an indicator of capacity to fight with horses when technology is very advanced. The image of the Sultan, reflected in the visuals, always seems to rule the communities, even a few women (concubines) who are with him are shown. This image aims to show a non-contemporary state structure that is dependent on one person rule as well as being male-dominated. the current management system of Turkey and Istanbul are definitely not in this way. Demonstrating the old sultanate administration with Istanbul modernism is an effort to create an exotic atmosphere by pretending to be living in a situation that does not actually continue. In the subway scene that takes place as the last seconds are approaching, roses sent by men to a western woman convey the visualization of the concept of welcome. But how accurate this symbolic representation is in terms of dignity is discussed. A woman greeted with roses while reading a newspaper. What is meant here in the newspaper detail is the Western world's interest in reading and the importance they attach to education. The East only plays as a vehicle trying to please the west. It means that the people of the East should always make the western people happy and support their wishes and desires. The mixing last times and current is shown exotically. Even the technology is living it’s the highest progress we see the sandals on ?stanbul Timeless City, rather than the Western transportation vehicles. This is a kind of hegemony that the Western World wrongly had seen on Turkey’s current situation. Contemporary travel culture is considered to be the same old story as the repackaging and sale of exotic vegetation 'desire to look behind western travelers' of the Arab-Islamic world (Causevic & Neale, 2019).

The Istanbul perspective, which includes all the cultural hegemonies adopted by the orientalist perspective, causes the west to observe the east with its backwardness and inability to develop. The way in which this point of view is reflected is actually related to the fact that it has nothing to do with modernism and the current situation, but that historical development causes a curious perspective. This curiosity, by dragging people's perspective to imagine, wants to see and be satisfied with interest and to see how the oriental atmosphere actually looks like coincides with mystical syntheses and images. All of these accumulations actually take on an exotic atmosphere with factors such as historical development, religion (Islam), language, race, that is, all the details that make up a culture. Media reflections and, in fact, concepts that are valid for the economy, power, and other today's world contain dominant hegemonies that contribute to the formation of this whole. One of the reasons why tourism has a large share is because it is the easiest and most direct method that this culture can keep alive because it has a space that can convey messages that can be opened and expressed to the outside. The inevitability of the processing of motifs and the orientalist atmosphere here is the common work of cultural accumulations and history.

Bibliography 

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