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Colonial Stereotypes, Transgressive Punishment and Cultural Anthropophagy The 'Twain' Meet 'Oh, Eas t i s East, an d Wes t i s West, an d neve r th e twai n shal l mee t . . .' . Rudyard Kiplin g (1865-1936 ) Neatly dividin g th e worl d int o tw o fixe d entitie s — th e Eas t an d th e Wes t — i s perhap s t o simplif y th e worl d o f humankin d whic h constitute s a totality o f interconnecte d processes , manifol d encounter s an d confrontations. Concept s lik e 'nation, ' 'society, ' an d 'culture ' d o no t onl y embody multifacete d huma n linkages , connection s an d contacts , the y ar e also th e conteste d outcom e o f man y contradictor y relationships . 'Th e West' a s a societ y an d civilizatio n i s postulate d t o b e independen t o f an d in oppositio n t o 'th e East' . Thi s appear s t o b e par t o f th e dominan t strategy o f colonia l power , an d inevitabl y create s fals e model s o f reality . Also, the attempt to specify separat e cultural wholes and distinct boundarie s equally denie s a temporall y an d spatiall y changin g an d changeabl e se t o f human relationships . Human societies , a s pointe d ou t b y Alexande r Lesser , ar e no t close d systems, bu t rathe r ope n system s i n whic h huma n aggregate s ar e 'inextricably involve d wit h othe r aggregates , nea r an d far , i n weblike , netlike connections ' (Lesser , 1961 : 42) . Fro m suc h a perspective , Eri c Wolf maintain s tha t th e worl d i s see n 'a s a whole , a totality , a system , instead o f a s a su m o f self-containe d societie s an d cultures ' (Wolf , 1982 : 385). Wolf' s concep t o f cultur e i s largely predicate d o n th e connectednes s of huma n aggregate s an d o n th e responsive interactio n t o large r economic , political an d ideologica l forces . The ide a o f th e East , o r th e Orient , i s a n artifac t o f th e Europea n imagination o f it s 'Other' . Th e divisio n o f th e Eas t an d th e Wes t thu s constitutes a n imaginar y geography . Th e differenc e o f th e Orien t become s 5 128 MACAU: A CULTURAL JANUS the startin g poin t fo r theories , descriptions, account s an d generics . Edwar d Said's notabl e cultura l criticis m o f Orientalism , a discours e crystallize d i n the lat e eighteent h century , i s th e ver y stud y o f ho w idea s an d image s were represente d an d constructe d b y th e West . A s a discursiv e formatio n centred o n fundamenta l othering , Said' s thesi s i s extensive , bu t centra l t o it ar e tw o mai n points : first , image s stres s th e Orient' s radica l separatio n from an d i n oppositio n t o th e West ; secondly , image s inves t th e Orien t with a timeles s essentialis m (Said , 1978 : 43 , 70) . In his study of Orientalism a s a mode o f Western authoritativ e discours e of power-knowledg e an d way-of-thinking-about-East , Sai d contend s tha t while 'manifes t Orientalism ' i s a n academi c disciplin e focusin g o n th e Eastern geography , people , customs , histor y an d languages , 'laten t Orientalism' relate s to a style of thought tha t produc e a set o f essentialize d 'common knowledge ' abou t th e East . I t i s expressed i n generi c prejudices , stereotypes o f people an d ideas . This styl e o f though t i s constructed, i f no t concocted, a s a n all-encompassin g representatio n o...

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