In art history , literature and cultural studies , Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world or " Orient " by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle East , [ 1 ] was one of the many specialties of 19th-century academic art , and Western literature was influenced by a similar interest in Oriental themes.
Since the publication of Edward Said 's Orientalism in , much academic discourse has begun to use the term 'Orientalism' to refer to a general patronizing Western attitude towards Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African societies.
In Said's analysis, 'the West' essentializes these societies as static and undeveloped—thereby fabricating a view of Oriental culture that can be studied, depicted, and reproduced in the service of imperial power. Implicit in this fabrication, writes Said, is the idea that Western society is developed, rational, flexible, and superior. Journalist and art critic Jonathan Jones pushed back on Said's claims, and suggested that the majority of Orientalism was derived out of a genuine fascination and admiration of Eastern cultures, not prejudice or malice.
Orientalism refers to the Orient , in reference and opposition to the Occident ; the East and the West, respectively. In art history , the term Orientalism refers to the works of mostly 19th-century Western artists who specialized in Oriental subjects, produced from their travels in Western Asia , during the 19th century. At that time, artists and scholars were described as Orientalists, especially in France, where the dismissive use of the term "Orientalist" was made popular by the art critic Jules-Antoine Castagnary.
The formation of the French Orientalist Painters Society changed the consciousness of practitioners towards the end of the 19th century, since artists could now see themselves as part of a distinct art movement. Art historians tend to identify two broad types of Orientalist artist: the realists who carefully painted what they observed such as Gustav Bauernfeint; and those who imagined Orientalist scenes without ever leaving the studio.
