Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Snake Charmer (1879)

The Media Education Foundation put together an excellent documentary introduction to the work of Edward Said and the concept of Orientalism, which includes some illustrative examples from film and popular culture. It is available on UCI’s Kanopy Streaming device:

https://uci.kanopystreaming.com/video/edward-said-orientalism

While this isn’t meant to be a substitute for your reading of Said’s introduction, it might be a good way to clarify points in the text that you find difficult to understand or contextualize.

A neuroscience MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) at Harvard commissioned an eight-part series of animations of poems, including a take on Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” from Leaves of Grass by Sophie Koko Gate. Gate attempts to capture the perceptions and sensations that electrify Whitman’s pre-war poetry. I normally find things like this to be a bit hokey, but these videos are really trippy and really fun. If you are reluctant to take Professor Fahs at her word that Leaves of Grass is among the great pleasures afforded to reading humans, watching a clip or two might provide some incentive. They at least help convey the manic, exuberant energy of Whitman’s pre-war poetry so that you can understand the stark tonal shift towards mourning over the course of the war.

Enjoy!

P.S. There is also an Emily Dickinson one.