FROM REAL TO REEL: HOLLYWOOD’S CULTURE OF ORIENTALISM IN AND AROUND THE ENGLISH PATIENT

Abstract

The English Patient, one of the seven movies that won the most Academy Awards in movie history, has naturally been subject to many studies in literature and film. Although the movie has mostly been acclaimed by movie critics and audiences, its loyalty to the original work has much been questioned since the movie was based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje. However, it cannot be said that much has been written regarding the movie’s Orientalist undertones. The radical change of perspective from the novel to the movie in this particular regard is so striking as to change the themes of the original text that it deserves attention on its own terms. Therefore, in this article I contrast the movie to the novel by arguing that Minghella, the director, follows the age-old Orientalist tradition in his (mis)representation of the Near East; of Muslim Culture, and of Arabs, whereas Ondaatje, the novelist, deconstructs this very stereotypical narrative about the East. Whereas the author of the novel takes apart the official history in a puzzling fluidity of nations and selves, the director reconstructs history back to its Eurocentric context. By also looking at the movie criticism published in the industry’s major venues, I try to demonstrate a culture of Orientalism in the promotion of the movie that goes well beyond the discussion of a single work.

Keywords

• Postcolonial studies,film studies,The English Patient,comparative literature,English literature and culture

ROMAN, GERÇEKLİK VE FİLM: İNGİLİZ HASTA VE HOLLYWOOD’UN ORYANTALİST KÜLTÜRÜ

Abstract

Tüm zamanların en çok Oskar ödülü alan yedi filminden biri olan İngiliz Hasta, gösterime girdiği günden bu yana yıllardır pek çok çalışmaya konu olmuştur. Film eleştirmenleri ve genelde izleyici tarafından büyük beğeni toplayan yapım Michael Ondaatje’nin aynı adlı romanından uyarlandığı için filmin esere ne derece sadık kaldığı da epeyce sorgulanmıştır. Ancak filmin bu bağlamda Oryantalist bir okumasının tam olarak yapıldığı pek söylenemez. İşte bu makalede, filmin sömürgecilik-sonrası araştırmalar çerçevesinde analizi yapılmakta ve yönetmen ve senarist Anthony Minghella’nın, Ondaatje’nin romanının aksine Oryantalist ve Batı-merkezci bir tutum içinde hikâyeyi adapte ettiği ileri sürülmektedir. Ondaatje’nin romanı Avrupa merkezli, Oryantalist tarih anlatımını sorgularken ve bu anlatımı alt üst eden bir söyleme hâkimken, romanın adaptasyonu Batı’yı Doğu kültürleri karşısında yüceltmektedir. Makalede ayrıca film sanayiinin olmazsa olmazları arasında yer alan film eleştirilerinin yarattığı Oryantalist kültür de ortaya konularak tartışma tek bir eserin incelemesinden öteye geçmektedir.

Keywords

• Sömürgecilik-sonrası araştırmaları,film çalışmaları,İngiliz Hasta,karşılaştırmalı edebiyat,İngiliz edebiyatı ve kültürü

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