Orientalism

American  

[awr-ee-en-tl-iz-uhm, ohr-] / ˌɔr iˈɛn tlˌɪz əm, ˌoʊr- /

noun

(often lowercase)

1. a peculiarity or idiosyncrasy of the peoples of Asia, especially the East.

2. the character or characteristics of the peoples of Asia, especially the East.

3. the knowledge and study of Asian, especially Eastern languages, literature, etc.

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Orientalism British  

/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. knowledge of or devotion to the Orient

2. an Oriental quality, style, or trait

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Other Word Forms

• Orientalist noun
• Orientalistic adjective
• anti-Orientalism noun
• anti-Orientalist noun

Etymology

Origin of Orientalism

First recorded in 1760–70; oriental + -ism

Example Sentences

As you were writing the screenplay and also working on the production, say in the design and casting, were you concerned about issues of cultural appropriation or what people would call Orientalism?

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 25, 2022

He’s this manufactured idea of Asian-ness, and part of that conversation about Orientalism is how things like tea and all these things that we have that we associate with certain cultures.

From The Verge • Mar. 9, 2022

Among the legacies of Orientalism observed by Said was a compulsion to draw invidious distinctions.

From New York Times • Sep. 3, 2021

Mena Mark Hanna, the academy’s dean, told me that one class had been discussing motifs of Orientalism and degeneration in Schoenberg’s textbook “Harmonielehre.”

From The New Yorker • May 15, 2017

Under the favouring influence of such an expectation, Orientalism, to which, as we have seen, Grecian thought had spontaneously arrived, was greatly re-enforced.

From History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) Revised Edition by Draper, John William