Orientalist

[awr-ee-en-tuhl-ist]

adjective

1. showing or relating to Orientalism.

noun

1. a person who studies the languages, literature, etc., of Asia, especially Eastern Asia.

2. a person who holds exoticizing or stereotypical views of Asia and its peoples or cultures.

Example Sentences

I am all for people getting a little more Chinese, for obvious personal heritage and emotional reasons, but not in an Orientalist, “Yellow Peril” kind of way.

From Slate

A different Ronald Colman starred in Frank Capra’s 1937 adventure “Lost Horizon,” an Orientalist fantasy about a diplomat who crash-lands in the Himalayas, finds Shangri-La and meets a high lama played by the American actor Sam Jaffe.

From New York Times

This was true a decade ago when Anthony Bourdain dared to film in the West Bank and Gaza for “Parts Unknown,” for which he predicted he’d be seen as “a terrorist sympathizer, a Zionist tool, a self-hating Jew, an apologist for American imperialism, and Orientalist, socialist, fascist, CIA agent and worse.”

From Salon

As "Jerusalem" begins, Bourdain predicts that “by the end of this hour, I'll be seen by many as a terrorist sympathizer, a Zionist tool, a self-hating Jew, an apologist for American imperialism, and Orientalist, socialist, fascist, CIA agent and worse.”

From Salon

The show's 2020 Japan Week was described even by British newspapers as being "borderline racist," while Eater London termed it an "Orientalist mess," featuring Lucas "mishearing" katsu curry as "cat poo curry" and reminders that Paul Hollywood once confessed that he doesn't believe Japan understands baking — on a show about Japanese baking.

From Salon