Postcolonial Theory as an Approach for Comparative Art Studies

Comparative art studies are a popular research subject among students and researchers of different fields of arts and encompass the majority of articles, books, theses and surveys done in this field. The amount of interest in this research field calls for a closer inspection of the nature of comparative studies and its theoretical framework. After explaining postcolonialism and its properties and conditions in this paper, we will discuss its utility as a theoretical framework for comparative art studies. Edward Said, an American-Palestinian professor and founder of postcolonial studies, expanded the use of “orientalism” in western literary works to show their role in strengthening the dominance-based political structure and the culture of colonization in the west. This orientalist point of view can also be seen in western criticism and art theoretical studies, which reinforce the need to utilize postcolonialism in comparative art studies to bypass the limited boundaries of orientalism in cultural studies and art studies to enable a free and equal discussion between different cultures and arts. Compared to other fields of research in art, comparative studies weren’t ever subject to closer inspection and never underwent a deep structural analysis in order to elaborate the theories forming this field of study. Thus, resources and theoretical frameworks from other disciplines in humanities, if compatible, can be used as resources to formulate new theoretical frameworks and methods for comparative art studies. One of the frameworks which was first used for research in humanities field of study and then expanded into art studies is postcolonialism. In this paper we try to extract any material compatible with different fields of art, from different works of postcolonial researchers and intellectuals, that can be used as a theoretical framework for comparative art studies. Edward Said uses the term “orientalism” as a synthesis of two meanings. Firstly, he defines “orientalism” as a kind of mentality that is based on a fundamental epistemological and ontological difference between the east and west. But the second meaning, which is in accordance with a special research process, has emerged from the works of orientalists since the late 18th century, based on an authoritative, structured, imperative, and magisterial attitude toward the east. Edward Said adds that generally, orientalism is a Focultian discourse, namely a system of knowledge which provides the viewpoint of westerners toward the east. The orientalism discourse has set some principals and criteria for representing the east. Fundamentally, these principals differ from the principals and methods of representing the west. And it is the duality of the methods and criteria that if not consciously, but permanently has consolidated the "otherness" of the east. The postcolonial approach is especially useful for non-western comparative art. This critical approach in comparative art studies aims to prevent incorrect assumptions or any misreading of non-western art, and to carefully examine its utility, value, and cultural or social context, which has been sidelined compared to western art. As a qualitative work, this paper is applied-fundamental research and the methodology used was descriptive and analytic. The information was gathered through library research process and analyzed with inductive method.Comparative art studies are a popular research subject among students and researchers of different fields of arts and encompass the majority of articles, books, theses and surveys done in this field. The amount of interest in this research field calls for a closer inspection of the nature of comparative studies and its theoretical framework. After explaining postcolonialism and its properties and conditions in this paper, we will discuss its utility as a theoretical framework for comparative art studies. Edward Said, an American-Palestinian professor and founder of postcolonial studies, expanded the use of “orientalism” in western literary works to show their role in strengthening the dominance-based political structure and the culture of colonization in the west. This orientalist point of view can also be seen in western criticism and art theoretical studies, which reinforce the need to utilize postcolonialism in comparative art studies to bypass the limited boundaries of orientalism in cultural studies and art studies to enable a free and equal discussion between different cultures and arts. Compared to other fields of research in art, comparative studies weren’t ever subject to closer inspection and never underwent a deep structural analysis in order to elaborate the theories forming this field of study. Thus, resources and theoretical frameworks from other disciplines in humanities, if compatible, can be used as resources to formulate new theoretical frameworks and methods for comparative art studies. One of the frameworks which was first used for research in humanities field of study and then expanded into art studies is postcolonialism. In this paper we try to extract any material compatible with different fields of art, from different works of postcolonial researchers and intellectuals, that can be used as a theoretical framework for comparative art studies. Edward Said uses the term “orientalism” as a synthesis of two meanings. Firstly, he defines “orientalism” as a kind of mentality that is based on a fundamental epistemological and ontological difference between the east and west. But the second meaning, which is in accordance with a special research process, has emerged from the works of orientalists since the late 18th century, based on an authoritative, structured, imperative, and magisterial attitude toward the east. Edward Said adds that generally, orientalism is a Focultian discourse, namely a system of knowledge which provides the viewpoint of westerners toward the east. The orientalism discourse has set some principals and criteria for representing the east. Fundamentally, these principals differ from the principals and methods of representing the west. And it is the duality of the methods and criteria that if not consciously, but permanently has consolidated the "otherness" of the east. The postcolonial approach is especially useful for non-western comparative art. This critical approach in comparative art studies aims to prevent incorrect assumptions or any misreading of non-western art, and to carefully examine its utility, value, and cultural or social context, which has been sidelined compared to western art. As a qualitative work, this paper is applied-fundamental research and the methodology used was descriptive and analytic. The information was gathered through library research process and analyzed with inductive method.