- Re-read the introduction. (Be sure you have identified for yourself where the introduction ends.)
- The Introduction ends on page 13 of the text (page 4 of the PDF), right before the section titled “History Matters” begins.
- Find the place in the text where the author states his thesis/claim/argument.
- Behdad describes his claim in the passages, “My aim here is to offer not an exhaustive inventory of the features of the Orientalist photograph but a preliminary description of some of its discontinuous and scattered traits, situating them specifically in the historical context of their formation,” and, “Motivating my aim in elaborating what one may call the “visual regularities” of Orientalist photography…”
- His actual claim is, “In what follows, I argue that Orientalism should be understood not merely as an ideological discourse of power or as a neutral art historical term but rather as a network of aesthetic, economic, and political relationships that cross national and historical boundaries. Understood in this way, Orientalism is indispensable to the understanding of nineteenth-century photography of the Middle East.”
- Re-state the author’s argument in your own words.
(Hint: It will be very helpful to read the article in its entirety before you complete this step.)
- Behdad’s claim is focused on the 19th century photography of the Middle East, that it should simply be seen as differences in the Eastern (Orientals) and Western (Europeans) aesthetics, economies, and politics, rather than solely being based on things related to authoritative power.
- In the introduction, what context does the author provide? That is, what background information does he give you?
- The author talks about the criticism Said’s Orientalism faced in its “high humanism.”
- What are the working assumptions that this author provides for his reader In the introduction?
- He makes the assumption that Said’s Orientalism was problematic and heavily debated.
BONUS: Are there assumptions the author makes unintentionally?
- By commenting on Orientalism, Behdad assumes readers know and have read Said’s work.
