Page 206 - Memory of the East
P. 206
inique Ingres that reminds us of “Nude Reclining on the Grass” painting by
Renoir.
There are also paintings entitled: “A View from the Old Cairo” by Joseph Kormos,
“The Valuable Cairo” by Prosper Marilhat, “A Street in Cairo” by Narsi Prosper,
“Cairo Gate” by Carl Oscar Borg, “The Turkish Café” by Brest Fabius, “A View from
Damanhur” by Beck, which its composition reminds us with “A View of Delft” by
Johannes Vermeer from the 17th century, and other paintings.
The East in general and Egypt in particular was depicted as a site and background
where people were excluded from it as a human factor. It was portrayed in many works
as a metaphysical arena free of human presence that can be defined or identified.
The way that Africa in the Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe (2013 – 1930), criticism
of the view of the English novelist of Polish origin, Joseph Conrad (1924 – 1874),
especially his novel "Heart of Darkness", was a place where the rover, rambler, or
European invader could enter with high humanitarian and moral claims, hiding the
killing savage devilish side, the way that Achebe saw at Conrad's novels a minimization
of the role of Africa so that it had its own responses through the accessories or props
in the plays, and the way that Africa and the Africans were dehumanized if we use
the terms of the Spanish thinker Ortega y Gasset through that colonial orientation,
Edward Said showed in his writings on orientalism that It happened to Egypt and
became the breadbasket of the Roman Empire or a field that produces cotton or yolk,
etc; more importantly, it is what happened through that of the dehumanization of the
Egyptians, turning them to mere tools, helpful things or attachments in their country.
A.Bouchet, 1831 / 1889, On the Nile Banks, Oil on canvas, 42 x 76 cm, 1887.
204
Renoir.
There are also paintings entitled: “A View from the Old Cairo” by Joseph Kormos,
“The Valuable Cairo” by Prosper Marilhat, “A Street in Cairo” by Narsi Prosper,
“Cairo Gate” by Carl Oscar Borg, “The Turkish Café” by Brest Fabius, “A View from
Damanhur” by Beck, which its composition reminds us with “A View of Delft” by
Johannes Vermeer from the 17th century, and other paintings.
The East in general and Egypt in particular was depicted as a site and background
where people were excluded from it as a human factor. It was portrayed in many works
as a metaphysical arena free of human presence that can be defined or identified.
The way that Africa in the Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe (2013 – 1930), criticism
of the view of the English novelist of Polish origin, Joseph Conrad (1924 – 1874),
especially his novel "Heart of Darkness", was a place where the rover, rambler, or
European invader could enter with high humanitarian and moral claims, hiding the
killing savage devilish side, the way that Achebe saw at Conrad's novels a minimization
of the role of Africa so that it had its own responses through the accessories or props
in the plays, and the way that Africa and the Africans were dehumanized if we use
the terms of the Spanish thinker Ortega y Gasset through that colonial orientation,
Edward Said showed in his writings on orientalism that It happened to Egypt and
became the breadbasket of the Roman Empire or a field that produces cotton or yolk,
etc; more importantly, it is what happened through that of the dehumanization of the
Egyptians, turning them to mere tools, helpful things or attachments in their country.
A.Bouchet, 1831 / 1889, On the Nile Banks, Oil on canvas, 42 x 76 cm, 1887.
204
