Egypt, Exoticization, and the Student Experience
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Authors
Rumsey, Leah Parsell
Issue Date
2011
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Despite the rise of postcolonial studies as a field, Orientalist discourse remains prevalent
in a variety of contexts, especially those related to travel and tourism. This project was planned
as a way to both undertake an internship and conduct research about exoticization in student
experiences of Egypt. I began the internship shortly after I arrived in Egypt and it provided a
starting point from which to conduct my research by introducing me to more interview
participants, by giving me a place in which to begin my observations. The primary goal of my
research was to discover and examine Orientalist discourse that is used in contact zones between
Egyptians and foreign students. The term contact zone was coined by Mary Louise Pratt in her
essay “Arts of the Contact Zone” and she defines contact zones as “…social spaces where
cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical
relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out in many
parts of the world today" (Pratt 519). Interning also creased my network of Egyptian and foreign
contacts by introducing me to people who would offer feedback about my project and suggest
new sites and situations for observation. These relationships helped be to begin finding the
language of exoticization in a variety of places and situations that functioned as contact zones
between Egyptian and foreign students.
Description
58 p.
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