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Abstract
This article explores the ways in which cosmopolitanism is intertwined with orientalism in consumer-oriented societies as well as on academic campuses and school playgrounds in the US. Even though Bharati Mukherjee has warned against the dangers of exoticism, the book covers from editions of her novels in three separate decades indicate that her work has, if anything, been increasingly commodified as exotic. This is one effect of what is here termed “orientalist cosmopolitanism” – a phenomenon similar to Edward Said’s “latent orientalism”, or the European fascination with non-European peoples which Meyda Yeğenoğlu has discussed in terms of an unconscious and permanent desire for the other. Cosmopolitanism often becomes orientalist because a focus on the global can cause a culture to lose sight of local particularities which can resist orientalism. We need to pay particular attention to the local and the global without falling prey to the pull of nationalism, orientalism or imperialism. Such a stance, grounded yet exilic and detached, is the key to resisting the type of orientalism depicted in the Mukherjee book covers, and present in the American university’s attempt to market “internationalization” to its students.
Acknowledgements
I am deeply indebted to Dr Mark Mathuray and the two anonymous readers at JPW for their thoughtful and insightful engagement with my work.
Notes
1. See Appiah (2006) and Breckenridge, Pollock, Bhabha, and Chakrabarty (2002).
2. Even though cosmopolitanism is not exactly the same thing as internationalization, both imply that one should learn about other cultures to have a broader view of the world. In this sense, I equate and connect them in my argument to show the similarities between the work of theorists in the academy and administrators of American universities.
3. See Naess (1993).
6. While it could be argued that an image of a stereotypical South Asian woman might be appropriate to depict a character who fails to adjust to life in the US, even a cursory reading of the novel shows that the protagonist adjusts to the US in many ways, such as making American friends, watching American soap operas and so on. The title of the novel points to the fact that it is about a woman dealing with wifehood. In fact, the violence with which she opposes wifehood is apparent in India and only grows in the US partly because she becomes American.
7. For examples, see the covers of these books by Bharati Mukherjee, published in New York: Jasmine (1989), Grove Press, trade; Jasmine (1991), Fawcett Crest, mass market; Darkness (1992), Fawcett Crest, mass market.