Orientalism by Edward Said is a discourse in which the Occident holds power over the Orient. It is through this power that the Occident can structure it how it wants to. It is an idea that the Eastern world and the Western world have opposite ways of thinking in terms of being and knowledge. This is often shown in the superiority of the West and the inferiority of the East. Edward Said first used the word this way in his 1978 book “Orientalism”.
Before the term Orientalism was used like this by Said, it had a different meaning. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the term Orientalism was used to describe the effects of the Orient’s influence on art, literature, and architecture fields. It basically referred to an academic study of the East by the West. This included the academic study done by philologists who were focused on the Oriental languages and the understanding of ancient Oriental texts. This knowledge was thought to be enough to understand Oriental civilizations. There was no interest to the everyday life of these Oriental communities and their customs and traditions.
Oriental art shows different elements which are seen as typical for this art direction. Furthermore, oriental art represents how Western people imagined the Orient. Additionally, there are several movies which included Orientalism, such as Aladdin.
Orientalism in art
Development of Oriental Art
The rise of Oriental art started in Venice in Italy. The city and the Ottoman Empire were at war from 1463 till 1479. Because of this, Venice needed to give money to the Ottoman Empire to keep sea trade. Also, in 1479, the venetian government sent Gentile Bellini to work for the sultan. Then Bellini started to work with the experiences and impressions he gained in the Ottoman Empire, He processed those in his paintings, when he was back in Venice in 1481. The interaction between Sultan Mehmed II and Bellini was the first historical meeting to express Orientalist art.
The second meeting was between France and the Ottoman Empire. Because of the “Franco-Ottoman Alliance” in 1536, many impressions and ideas emerged either of Europe or the Middle East. Because of this interaction between the two different continents, international goods became popular. As a result, the French painting style, Turquerie was created.
The third meeting is seen as the peak of oriental art. Because of Napoleon, France had power over Egypt rom 1798 till 1801. At this time, Egyptian products became popular in France.
In 1893, the institution called the Society of French Oriental Artists emerged. This institution supported the idea of oriental art. They also supported going to the Middle East to gain experience and impressions to use in their paintings.
Lastly, oriental art started to get disliked in the 19th century. This was because the art was now often connected to discrimination.
Elements of Oriental Art
In general, this art style presents how western artists imagined the Orient to be. For example, how everyday life could look like in this region. Either they had visited the region, or they painted what the region could look like.
Firstly, Oriental painters use mostly warm colours, such as yellow, orange or red. Another feature of these paintings is the use of shadows and light.
Secondly, typical elements are nude women, harems, or mosques.
Thirdly, oriental art can be seen in form of photography and so-called genre paintings. These presented everyday activities.
Lastly, the paintings were mostly made by people from western countries. For example countries like France or Great Britain. Those states were controlling regions of the Middle East. By creating these paintings, these countries tried to promote themselves in the region. Furthermore, they presented the Orient as bad and disrespectful.
An example of today is Aladdin. This movie shows how the producers of the movie expected the Orient to be and how the people in the region could look like.
Scholarly Orientalism
Philology and Orientalism
From the 19th century, the term Orientalism was used to mean an academic field. Here people had with a special job to study Oriental languages and sacred ancient texts. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, studies about Sanskrit, Persian, and Egyptian hieroglyphs became very popular. Many institutions were founded during this time to help support these studies.