Figuring the orient : a discussion of orientalism within the context of Ferzan Özpetek's films

Abstract

This study aims to inaugurate a thorough reading of two films by Ferzan Özpetek that employ Orient as their setting and major narrative element, Hamam (1997) and Harem Suare (1999), to examine their complicity with the Orientalist practices of representation. The discussion is informed by just as it responds to some of the crucial issues within postcolonial theory. Inspired by the deconstructive critique, the intrinsic relation between the Orientalist discourse and the general economy of Western subject formation has been elaborated through the analysis of the films. A three-fold approach has been pursued to be able to diagnose the latent Orientalism signing the films, since three constitutive moments authorize the attempt of giving a static form to the Orient. Therefore visual, aural and sexual registers of the Orientalist figuration has been explored.