Orientalism is the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages and peoples by Western scholars. It can also refer to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists. The Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing the Levant (modern Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Mesopotamia (Iraq and eastern Syria), and the Iranian Plateau (Iran, Afghanistan and western... Far East is an inexact term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ... The term Western world or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... In the West, the term Eastern culture refers very broadly to the various cultures, social structures and philosophical systems of the East, namely Asia (including China, India, Japan, and surrounding regions). ...

In the former meaning the term Orientalism has come to acquire negative connotations in some quarters and is interpreted to refer to the study of the East by Americans and Europeans shaped by the attitudes of the era of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. When used in this sense, it implies old-fashioned and prejudiced outsider interpretations of Eastern cultures and peoples. This viewpoint was most famously articulated and propagated by Edward Said in his controversial book Orientalism (1978), which was critical of this scholarly tradition and of modern scholars including Princeton University professor Bernard Lewis. Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (November 1, 1935 – September 25, 2003; Arabic: ) was a well-known Palestinian American literary theorist, critic, and outspoken pro-Palestinian activist. ... Orientalism (1978; 25th-anniversary edition 2003 ISBN 0671502484) is a 328-page study by Edward Said of a mostly British and French tradition, cultural apparatus, or style of thought based on the Orient/Occident distinction. ... Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Prof. ...

Meaning of the term

Like the term Orient itself Orientalism derives from a Latin word Oriens referring simply to the rising of the sun, to imply "the East" in a relative sense. This is the opposite of the term Occident, which has largely dropped from common usage. Similar terms are the French-derived Levant and Anatolia, from the Greek anatole, two further locutions for the direction in which the sun rises. The term the Orient - literally meaning sunrise, east - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language. ... Occident has a number of meanings. ... The Levant Levant is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... Asia Minor lies east of the Bosporus, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. ...

In terms of The Old World, Europe was considered to be 'The West' or Occidental, and the furthest known Eastern extremity 'The East' or 'The Orient'. The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus; it includes Europe, Asia, and Africa (collectively known as Africa-Eurasia), plus surrounding islands. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of Earth; the term continent here referring to a cultural and political distinction, rather than a physiographic one, thus leading to various perspectives about Europes precise borders. ... Occidental means generally western. It is a traditional designation (especially when capitalized) for anything belonging to the Occident or West — the western part of the classical world (Europe) and the New World, and especially of its society. ... The Orient is a term traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle and Far Eastern countries. ...

From at least the time of the Roman Empire until at least the Middle Ages, what is now considered 'the Middle East' was then considered 'the Orient'. During that period, the flourishing cultures of the Far East were little known, just as Europe was essentially unknown in 'the Far East. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Far East is an inexact term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ...

Over time, the common understanding of 'the Orient' has continually shifted East as Western explorers traveled deeper into Asia. In Biblical times, the Three Wise Men 'from the Orient' were actually Magi from "The East" (relative to Palestine) meaning 'the Persian Empire'. After all period, as Europe gained knowledge of countries further to the East, the definition of the limit of 'the Orient' progressively shifted eastwards, until the Pacific Ocean was reached, in what is also known as 'the Far East'. This can cause some confusion about the historical and geographic scope of Oriental Studies. The Magi in traditional dress: breeches, capes, and Phrygian caps. ... The Wise Men are given the names Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar in this Romanesque mosaic from the Basilica of St Apollinarius in Ravenna, Italy. ... Palestine (Hebrew: , Palestina; Arabic: ‎ Filastīn or Falastīn) is one of several names for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the banks of the Jordan River with various adjoining lands. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau and beyond. ... Far East is an inexact term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ...

However, there still remain some contexts where 'the Orient' or 'Oriental' refer to older definitions. For example, 'Oriental Spices' typically come from regions extending from the Middle East through the Indian sub-continent to Indo-China. Also, travel on the Orient Express (from Paris to Istanbul), is eastward bound (towards the sunrise), but does not reach what is currently understood to be the Orient. Poster advertising the Orient Express Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur Tossed by the waves, she does not founder Coordinates : , Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) Administration Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Département Paris (75) Région ÃŽle-de-France Mayor Bertrand Delanoë (PS) City (commune) Characteristics Land Area 86. ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural, and economic centre. ...

In contemporary English, Oriental is usually a synonym for the peoples, cultures and goods from the parts of East Asia traditionally occupied by East Asians and Southeast Asians, excluding Indians, Arabs and other more westerly peoples. In some parts of America it is considered derogatory to use this term to refer to Asians (whether East, South, West or Central Asians). For example, in Washington state it is illegal to use the word 'oriental' in legislation and government documents ^{[citation needed]}. East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

History of Orientalism

It is difficult to be precise about the origin of the distinction between the "West" and the "East". However the rise of both Christianity and Islam produced a sharp opposition between European Christendom and the Muslim cultures to the East and in North Africa. During the Middle Ages Islamic peoples were the "alien" enemies of the Christian world.^{[citation needed]} European knowledge of cultures further to the East was very sketchy. Nevertheless, there was a vague awareness that complex civilizations existed in India and China, from which luxury goods such as woven textiles and ceramics were imported. As European explorations and colonisations expanded a distinction emerged between non-literate peoples, for example in Africa and the Americas, and the literate cultures of the East. Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... For other uses, including people named Islam, see Islam (disambiguation). ... This medieval map, which abstracts the known world to a cross inscribed within an orb, remakes geography in the service of Christian iconography. ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Ceramics is the art form that uses ceramic materials to produce works of art. ... Colonisation (or colonization) is the act where life forms move into a distant area where their kind is sparse or not yet existing at all and set up new settlements in the area. ... For other uses, see Africa (disambiguation). ... World map showing the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ...

In the 18th century Enlightenment thinkers sometimes characterized aspects of Eastern cultures as superior to the Christian West. For example Voltaire promoted research into Zoroastrianism in the belief that it would support a rational Deism superior to Christianity. Others praised the relative religious tolerance of Islamic countries in contrast with the Christian West, or the status of scholarship in Mandarin China. With the translation of the Avesta by Abraham Anquetil-Duperron and the discovery of the Indo-European languages by William Jones complex connections between the early history of Eastern and Western cultures emerged. However, these developments occurred in the context of rivalry between France and Britain for control of India, and it is sometimes claimed were associated with attempts to understand colonised cultures in order more effectively to control them. Liberal economists such as James Mill denigrated Eastern countries on the grounds that their civilizations were static and corrupt. Karl Marx characterised the "Asiatic mode of production" as unchanging and praised British colonialism in India. Christian evangelists sought to denigrate Eastern religious traditions as superstitions (see Juggernaut).^{[citation needed]} The Age of Enlightenment refers to either the eighteenth century in European philosophy, or the longer period including the seventeenth century and the Age of Reason. ... Voltaire by 24 years of age by Nicolas de Largillière. ... Zoroastrianism is the name of the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathushtra, Zartosht). ... Deism is a modern religious movement that originated in 17th and 18th century Europe and North America. ... A Mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China. ... See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ... Abraham-Hyacinthe Anquetil Du Perron (December 7, 1731 - January 17, French orientalist, brother of Louis-Pierre Anquetil, the historian, was born in Paris. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. ... William Jones is a common name, especially in Wales, and there have been several well-known individuals of this name, including: // Academics and authors William Jones (historian) (1860–1932) Sir William Jones (mathematician) (~1675–1749), father of Sir William Jones (philologist) Sir William Jones (philologist) (1746–1794) son of Sir... James Mill James Mill (April 6, 1773 - June 23, 1836), Scottish historian, economist and philosopher, was born at Northwater Bridge, in the parish of Logie-Pert, Angus, Scotland, the son of James Mill, a shoemaker. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883, London) was an immensely influential German philosopher, political economist, and socialist revolutionary. ... Evangelism is the proclaiming of the Christian Gospel. ... It has been suggested that Magical thinking be merged into this article or section. ... The Car of Juggernaut, as depicted in the 1851 Illustrated London Reading Book The term juggernaut is used to describe any literal or metaphorical force regarded as unstoppable that will crush all in its path. ...

Despite this, the first serious European studies of Buddhism and Hinduism were undertaken by scholars such as Eugene Burnouf and Max Müller. In this period serious study of Islam also emerged. By the mid-19th century Oriental Studies was an established academic discipline. However, while scholarly study expanded, so did racist attitudes and popular stereotypes of "inscrutable" and "wily" orientals. Often scholarly ideas were intertwined with such prejudicial racial or religious assumptions. Eastern art and literature were still seen as "exotic" and as inferior to Classical Graeco-Roman ideals. Their political and economic systems were generally thought to be feudal "oriental despotisms" and their alleged cultural inertia was considered to be resistant to progress. Many critical theorists regard this form of Orientalism as part of a larger, ideological colonialism justified by the concept of the "white man's burden". Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma, the teachings of the awakened one) is a religion, a practical philosophy, and arguably a psychology, focusing on the teachings of Gautama Buddha (Pali: Gotama Buddha), who lived on the Indian subcontinent in or around the fifth century BCE (review article). ... Hinduism (Sanskrit: , IAST: ), also known as , (IAST: ) and , (IAST: ) is a set of religious traditions that originated mainly in the Indian subcontinent. ... Eugène Burnouf (April 8, 1801 - May 28, 1852) was a French orientalist. ... Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (December 6, 1823 – October 28, 1900), more commonly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of Indian studies, who virtually created the discipline of comparative religion. ... The Orientalist view of Islam is first attempts of the Europe to understand Islam. ... An African-American man drinks out of the colored only water cooler at a racially segregated street car terminal in the United States in 1939. ... Greco-Roman refers to the culture of Ancient Greece and Classical Rome and reflects the essential unity of the Mediterranean world at the time when those cultures flourished, between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD. Categories: Historical stubs | Ancient Rome | Ancient Greece ... Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... In the humanities and social sciences, critical theory has two quite different meanings with different origins and histories, one originating in social theory and the other in literary criticism. ... See colony and colonisation for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism. ... The White Mans Burden is a Eurocentric view of the world used to encourage powerful nations to adopt an imperial role. ...

Orientalism in the arts

Imitations of Oriental styles

Chinesischer Turm in the Englischer Garten of Munich. Initial structure built 1789-1790

Similar ambivalence is evident in art and literature. From the Renaissance to the 18th century Western designers attempted to imitate the technical sophistication of Chinese ceramics with only partial success. Chinoiserie is the catch-all term for the fashion for Chinese themes in decoration in Western Europe, beginning in the late 17th century and peaking in waves, especially Rococo Chinoiserie, ca 1740-1770. Early hints of Chinoiserie appear, in the 17th century, in the nations with active East India companies: England (the British East India Company), Denmark (the Danish East India Company), Holland (the Dutch East India Company) and France (the French East India Company). Tin-glazed pottery made at Delft and other Dutch towns adopted genuine blue-and-white Ming decoration from the early 17th century, and early ceramic wares at Meißen and other centers of true porcelain imitated Chinese shapes for dishes, vases and teawares (see Chinese export porcelain). But in the true Chinoiserie décor fairyland, mandarins lived in fanciful mountainous landscapes with cobweb bridges, carried flower parasols, lolled in flimsy bamboo pavilions haunted by dragons and phoenixes, while monkeys swung from scrolling borders. Image File history File links Chinesischer_Turm. ... Image File history File links Chinesischer_Turm. ... The Monopteros at dusk The Englischer Garten or English Garden is a large urban public park that stretches from the city center to the northeastern city limits of Munich, Germany. ... Munich (German: München, (pronounced listen) is the capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern). ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... Chinoiserie refers to an artistic style which reflects Chinese influence and is characterized through the use of elaborate decoration and intricate patterns. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The British East India Company, sometimes referred to as John Company, was a joint-stock company which was granted an English Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, with the intention of favouring trade privileges in India. ... The Danish East India Company (in Danish Dansk Ostindisk Kompagni) was founded in 1616, following a privilege of the Danish king Christian IV. It was focused on trade with India and had its base in Tranquebar. ... Dutch colonial possessions, with the Dutch East India Company possessions marked in a paler green, surrounding the Indian Ocean plus Saint Helena in the mid-Atlantic. ... The French East India Company (French Compagnie des Indes Orientales) was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies. ... Delft is a city in South Holland (Zuid-Holland), the Netherlands, located halfway between Rotterdam and The Hague (Den Haag). ... Blue and white is a term that denotes decoration in underglaze blue on the white body of both pottery and porcelain, whether Oriental, European or American, hand-painted or printed. ... The Míng Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; Pinyin: Míng Cháo) was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. ... Meißen, internationally most known for porcelain, is a town of approximately 35,000 near Dresden on the river Elbe in the State of Saxony in the southern part of eastern Germany. ... It has been suggested that Porcelain tile be merged into this article or section. ... Teaware is the entire spectrum of equipment used in the production of tea. ... Chinese export porcelain refers to a wide range of porcelain that was made and decorated in China exclusively for export to Europe between the 16th and the 20th century. ... A free-standing garden pavilion, Hofgarten in Munich, Bavaria In architecture a pavilion (from French, pavillon) has two main significations. ... Chinese dragons The Chinese dragon or Lóng in Mandarin Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 龍; Simplified Chinese: é¾™; pinyin: Lóng; Cantonese Yale: Lùhng; Japanese: ryÅ« or tatsu ç«œ; Korean: ryong 룡; Thai: mungkorn มังกรจีน; Vietnamese: rồng) is a mythical Chinese creature that also appears in other East Asian cultures, and is also sometimes... Fenghuang sculpture, Nanning city, Guangxi province. ...

Pleasure pavilions in "Chinese taste" appeared in the formal parterres of late Baroque and Rococo German palaces, and in tile panels at Aranjuez near Madrid. Thomas Chippendale's mahogany tea tables and china cabinets, especially, were embellished with fretwork glazing and railings, ca 1753 - 70, but sober homages to early Xing scholars' furnishings were also naturalized, as the tang evolved into a mid- Georgian side table and squared slat-back armchairs suited English gentlemen as well as Chinese scholars. Not every adaptation of Chinese design principles falls within mainstream "chinoiserie." Chinoiserie media included imitations of lacquer and painted tin (tôle) ware that imitated japanning, early painted wallpapers in sheets, and ceramic figurines and table ornaments. Small pagodas appeared on chimneypieces and full-sized ones in gardens. Kew has a magnificent garden pagoda designed by Sir William Chambers. Aranjuez is a town in the southern part of Autonomous Community of Madrid in central Spain and is the southernmost, and 48 km south of the city of Madrid. ... Location Location of Madrid in Europe Coordinates : 40° 23’N , 3°43′0″W Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Villa de Madrid (Spanish) Spanish name Villa de Madrid Founded 9th century Postal code 28001-28080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 91 (Villa de... Thomas Chippendale, the elder (June 5, 1718 - November 1779) was a furniture designer and maker from Otley, West Yorkshire. ... A pagoda at Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in China, Japan, Korea, and other parts of Asia. ... Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. ... The central courtyard of Chambers Somerset House in London. ...

After 1860, Japonaiserie, sparked by the arrival of Japanese woodblock prints, became an important influence in the western arts in particular on many modern French artists such as Monet. The paintings of James McNeill Whistler and his "Peacock Room" are some of the finest works of the genre; other examples include the Gamble House and other buildings by California architects Greene and Greene. Van Gogh - Portrait of Pere Tanguy Example of ukiyo-e influence in Western art Japonism (also in French Japonisme and Japonaiserie) is the influence of Japanese art on Western, primarily French, artists. ... Self portrait James Abbott McNeill Whistler (July 14, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American-born, British based painter and etcher. ... The Gamble House (constructed 1908 - 1909) is a National Historic Landmark and tourist attraction in Pasadena, California designed by the architect brothers Greene and Greene, Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, for David B. Gamble of the Procter & Gamble company. ... Brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, who established the Architectural firm of Greene and Greene, were born in Brighton, Ohio in 1868 and 1870, respectively. ...

Depictions of the Orient in art and literature

"Le Bain turc," (Turkish Bath) by J.A.D. Ingres, 1862

Depictions of Islamic "Moors" and "Turks" (imprecisely named Muslim groups of North Africa and West Asia) can be found in Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art. But it was not until the 19th century that "Orientalism" in the arts became an established theme. In these works the myth of the Orient as exotic and corrupt is most fully articulated. Such works typically concentrated on Near-Eastern Islamic cultures. Artists such as Eugène Delacroix and Jean-Léon Gérôme painted many depictions of Islamic culture, often including lounging odalisques, and stressing lassitude and visual spectacle. When Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, director of the French Académie de peinture painted a highly-colored vision of a turkish bath (illustration, right), he made his eroticized Orient publicly acceptable by his diffuse generalizing of the female forms, who might all have been of the same model. If his painting had simply been retitled "In a Paris Brothel," it would have been far less acceptable. Sensuality was seen as acceptable in the exotic Orient. This orientalizing imagery persisted in art into the early 20th century, as evidenced in Matisse's orientalist nudes. In these works the "Orient" often functions as a mirror to Western culture itself, or as a way of expressing its hidden or illicit aspects. In Gustave Flaubert's novel Salammbô ancient Carthage in North Africa is used as a foil to ancient Rome. Its culture is portrayed as morally corrupting and suffused with dangerously alluring eroticism. This novel proved hugely influential on later portrayals of ancient Semitic cultures. J.A.D. Ingres Bain turc 1862 Source: http://www. ... J.A.D. Ingres Bain turc 1862 Source: http://www. ... Self-portrait at age 24, 1804 Musée Condé. Napoleon on his Imperial throne, 1806, Musée de lArmée. ... This article is about the people. ... Eugène Delacroix (portrait by Nadar) Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (April 26, 1798 — August 13, 1863) was the most important of the French Romantic painters. ... Jean-Léon Gérôme (May 11, 1824 - 1904) was a French painter and sculptor who produced many works in a historical, Orientalist style. ... Odalisque with a slave by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, painted 1840. ... Self-portrait at age 24, 1804 Musée Condé. Napoleon on his Imperial throne, 1806, Musée de lArmée. ... A Turkish bath is a method of cleansing the body and relaxation that was particularly popular during the Victorian era. ... Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt (1906). ... Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) [] was a French novelist who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. ... Salammbô is a fantasy 1862 novel by Gustave Flaubert. ... Ruins of Carthage Carthaginian settlements in the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. The term Carthage refers both to an ancient city in North Africa — located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis across from the center of modern Tunis in Tunisia — and to the civilization which developed... A foil character is either one who is in most ways opposite to the main character or nearly the same as the main character. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) coordinates: 41°54′N 12°29′E Time Zone: UTC+1 Administration Subdivisions 19 municipi Province Rome Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni ( The Union ) Characteristics Area 1,285 km² Population 2,547,677 (2005 estimate) Density 1983... In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical name Shem) was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. ...

Examples of Orientalism in the arts

Cover of the French magazine le Japon artistique (May 1888) showing one of Hokusai's views on Mount Fuji.

This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa (from a Series of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji) by Katsushika Hokusai. ... Mount Fuji Mount Fuji , IPA: ) is the highest mountain in Japan. ...

Literature

• Montesquieu - Persian Letters (Lettres persanes) (1721)
• William Thomas Beckford - "Vathek" (1786)
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge - "Kubla Khan" (published 1816)
• Percy Bysshe Shelley - "Ozymandias" (1818)
• Ralph Waldo Emerson - poem "Indian Superstition" (1821)
• Thomas de Quincey - Malay passages in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822)
• Edgar Allan Poe - "Tamerlane" (1827), "Al Aaraaf" (1829), and "Israfel" (1831)
• Anatole France Thaïs (1890)
• Richard Francis Burton - translation of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (1885-1888)
• Victor Segalen - René Leys (1922)
• André Malraux - Man's Fate (1934) (La Condition humaine, 1933)
• Marguerite Yourcenar's Nouvelles Orientales (1938)
• Marguerite Duras - The Lover (L'Amant) (1984)
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Westöstlicher Diwan (1819)

Portrait of Montesquieu in 1728. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Persian Letters Persian Letters is a satirical story of two Persian brothers, Usbek and Rica, traveling through France by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu. ... Fonthill Abbey designed for William Beckford by the architect James Wyatt William Thomas Beckford (October 1, 1760 – May 2, 1844) was an English novelist, art critic, travel writer and politician. ... Vathek (alternatively titled Vathek, an Arabian Tale or The History of the Caliph Vathek) is a Gothic novel written by William Thomas Beckford. ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, 1795 Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... Kubla Khan is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge which takes its title from the Mongol/Chinese emperor Kublai Khan, of the Yuan dynasty. ... Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4, 1792 – July 8, 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among the finest lyric poets who wrote in the English language. ... OZYMANDIAS of EGYPT I met a traveller from an antique land Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803–April 27, 1882) was an American author, poet, and philosopher. ... Thomas de Quincey from the frontispiece of Revolt of the Tartars, Thomas de Quincey (August 15, 1785 – December 8, 1859) was an English author and intellectual. ... The Malay language, also known locally as Bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who reside in the Malay peninsula, southern Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau islands, and parts of the coast of Borneo. ... Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822) is an autobiographical novel by Thomas de Quincey first published in 1821 in the London Magazine, as a novel in 1822 and revised in 1856, about his laudanum (opium and alcohol) addiction and how it affected his life. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, editor, critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... Al Aaraaf was written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1829. ... Anatole France (April 16, 1844 – October 12, 1924) was the pen name of French author Jacques Anatole François Thibault. ... Richard Burton, portrait by Frederic Leighton, National Portrait Gallery, London. ... Queen Scheherazade tells her stories to King Shahryar. ... Victor Segalen (January 14, 1878 - May 21, 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer and poet. ... André Malraux, French author, adventurer, and statesman André Malraux (November 3, 1901 - November 23, 1976) was a French author, adventurer and statesman preeminent in the world of French politics and culture during his lifetime. ... Mans Fate cover Written by Andre Malraux in 1933, La Condition Humaine, or Mans Fate is novel about the failed communist revolution that took place in Shanghai in 1927, and the existential quandaries facing a diverse group of people associated with the revolution. ... Marguerite Yourcenar was the pseudonym of French novelist, Marguerite Cleenewerck de Crayencour (June 8, 1903 - December 17, 1987). ... Marguerite Donnadieu (April 4, 1914 - March 3, 1996), better known as Marguerite Duras, was a writer and film director. ... The Lover (French title: LAmant) is an autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras, published in 1984 by Les Éditions de Minuit. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. ... Westöstlicher Diwan or West-Eastern Divan is a collection of lyrical poems by the German poet Goethe. ...

Opera, ballets, musicals

• Jean-Philippe Rameau - Les Indes Galantes (1735-1736)
• Jacques Offenbach - Ba-ta-clan (1855)
• Georges Bizet - Les Pêcheurs de Perles (1863)
• Balakirev's Tamara, Borodin's Polovetsian Dances in opera Prince Igor (1890), César Cui's opera The Mandarin's Son (1878), Mussorgsky's Dance of the Persian Slaves (Khovanshchina) (1881), Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheheradze - the Mighty Handful aka "the Five" Russian composers
• Gilbert and Sullivan - The Mikado (1885)
• Giacomo Puccini - Madama Butterfly (1904), Turandot (1926)
• Rogers and Hammerstein - The King And I (1951)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782)
• Georg Friedrich Händel - Tamerlano (1724) and Serse (1738)
• Richard Strauss Salome Opera in one act based on Wilde's play (1905)
• Richard Strauss The Egyptian Helen Opera with libretto by Hugo von Hofmanstahl (1929)

Jean-Philippe Rameau, by Jacques André Joseph Aved, 1728 Jean-Philippe Rameau (September 25, 1683 - September 12, 1764) was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880), composer and cellist, was one of the originators of the operetta form, a precursor of the modern musical comedy. ... Ba-ta-clan is an operetta in one act by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Ludovic Halévy. ... Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875) was a French composer and pianist of the romantic era. ... Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearlfishers) is a three-act opera by Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michael Carré. While not nearly as popular as his far more famous Carmen, it contains a wealth of attractive music and has found some popularity despite its... Balakirevs grave at Tikhvin Cemetery. ... Portrait of Borodin Alexander Porfirevich Borodin (Александр Порфирьевич Бородин in Cyrillic, Aleksandr Porfirevič Borodin in transliteration) (31 Oct. ... The Polovetsian Dances are perhaps the best known selections from Alexander Borodins opera Prince Igor. ... Prince Igor (Князь Игорь in Russian, Knyaz Igor in transliteration) is an opera in a prologue and four acts by Alexander Borodin to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on the East Slavic epic The Tale of Igors Campaign. ... César Antonovitch Cui (Russian: Цезарь Антонович Кюи) (January 6/18, 1835 – March 13, 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic of French and Lithuanian descent. ... Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (more accurately spelled Musorgsky) (Russian: , Modest Petrovič Musorgskij, French: ) (March 9/21, 1839 – March 16/28, 1881), one of the Russian composers known as the Five, was an innovator of Russian music. ... Khovanshchina or The Khovansky Affair (Хованщина in Russian) is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky. ... Portrait of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov by Valentin Serov (1898) Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6/18, 1844 – June 8/21, 1908) was a Russian composer and teacher of harmony and orchestration. ... Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolai, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 18, 1844–June 21, 1908) was a Russian composer and teacher of classical music particularly noted for his fine orchestration, which may have been influenced by his synaesthesia. ... The Mighty Handful, also known as The Five in English-speaking countries (and by comparable translation of such in other languages), was a label applied in 1867 by the critic Vladimir Stasov to a loose collection of Russian classical composers brought together under the leadership of Mily Balakirev with the... Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) is regarded as one of the great operatic composers of the late 19th and early 20th century. ... Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. ... Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, based on the play Turandot by Carlo Gozzi. ... An autographed photo of Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was one of the great composers of musical theater, best known for his song writing partnerships with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. He wrote more than 900 published songs, and forty Broadway musicals. ... For work done with Richard Rodgers, see Rodgers and Hammerstein Oscar Hammerstein II (July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was a New-York born writer, producer, and (usually uncredited) director of musicals for almost forty years. ... The King and I is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, with a script based on the book Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Die Entführung aus dem Serail (K. 384; in English The Abduction from the Seraglio; also known as Il Seraglio) is a opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... George Frideric Handel (German Georg Friedrich Händel), (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German Baroque music composer who lived much of his life in England. ... One of Handels greatest operas composed in a year in which two more great operas were composed by him. ... Serse (also known as Xerxes) is an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel. ... Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ... Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ...

Shorter musical pieces

• Albert Ketèlbey -- In a Persian Market (1920), In a Chinese Temple Garden (1925), and In the Mystic Land of Egypt (1931)

Albert William Ketèlbey (9 August 1875 - 26 November 1959) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. ...

Theater

• Oscar Wilde's Salomé (1893, first performed in Paris 1896)

Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, short story writer and Freemason. ... Salomé, originally written in French in 1891 and translated into English, is a tragedy by the Irish-born playwright Oscar Wilde. ...

Painting

• Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863)
• Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904)
• Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780–1867)

Eugène Delacroix (portrait by Nadar) Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (April 26, 1798 — August 13, 1863) was the most important of the French Romantic painters. ... Jean-Léon Gérôme (May 11, 1824 - 1904) was a French painter and sculptor who produced many works in a historical, Orientalist style. ... Self-portrait at age 24, 1804 Musée Condé. Napoleon on his Imperial throne, 1806, Musée de lArmée. ...

Movies

• Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
• Exodus (1960)
• Iron Eagle (1985)
• True Lies (1994)

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a 1935 movie. ... Exodus Exodus is a 1960 film starring Paul Newman. ... Iron Eagle is a 1986 action film about a teenage boy named Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) who steals an American F-16 fighter jet to rescue his father (Tim Thomerson), a prisoner of war being held in an unidentified rogue Middle Eastern country. ... True Lies is a 1994 action movie directed by James Cameron. ...

Edward Said and "Orientalism"

Despite this often mixed tradition, the word "Orientalism" carried no overt negative freight. Respected institutions like the Oriental Institute of Chicago or the London School of Oriental and African Studies carried the term without reproach. "Oriental" was simply understood as the opposite of "occidental" ('western'). The word was used to develop negative connotations following the publication of the groundbreaking work Orientalism by the American-Palestinian scholar Edward Said. Following the ideas of Michel Foucault, Said emphasized the relationship between power and knowledge in scholarly and popular thinking, in particular regarding European views of the Islamic Arab world. Said argued that Orient and Occident worked as oppositional terms, so that the "Orient" was constructed as a negative inversion of Western culture. The Oriental Institute (OI) is the University of Chicagos archeology museum and research center for ancient Near Eastern studies. ... The School of Oriental and African Studies (often abbreviated to SOAS) was founded in 1916 as the School of Oriental Studies at 2, Finsbury Circus, London, England, the then premises of the London Institution. ... Occident has a number of meanings. ... Orientalism (1978; 25th-anniversary edition 2003 ISBN 0671502484) is a 328-page study by Edward Said of a mostly British and French tradition, cultural apparatus, or style of thought based on the Orient/Occident distinction. ... Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (November 1, 1935 – September 25, 2003; Arabic: ) was a well-known Palestinian American literary theorist, critic, and outspoken pro-Palestinian activist. ... Michel Foucault (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher who held a chair at the Collège de France, which he gave the title The History of Systems of Thought. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( ▶ (help· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are an ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...

Taking a comparative and historical literary review of European, mainly British and French, scholars and writers looking at, thinking about, talking about, and writing about the peoples of the Middle East, Said sought to lay bare the relations of power between the colonizer and the colonized in those texts. Said's writings have had far-reaching implications beyond area studies in Middle East, to studies of imperialist Western attitudes to India, China and elsewhere. It was one of the foundational texts of postcolonial studies. Said later developed and modified his ideas in his book Culture and Imperialism (1993). A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Post-colonialism refers to the intellectual field opened up by Edward Saids book Orientalism. ...

Edward Blore's Alupka Palace (1828-46) was one of the earliest intimations of the Victorian taste for Moorish Revival architecture.

Many scholars now use Said's work to attempt to overturn long-held, often taken-for-granted Western ideological biases regarding non-Westerners in scholarly thought. Some post-colonial scholars would even say that the West's idea of itself was constructed largely by saying what others were not. If "Europe" evolved out of "Christendom" as the "not-Byzantium," early modern Europe in the late 16th century (see Battle of Lepanto) certainly defined itself as the "not-Turkey." Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1842 KB) Summary Description South view of the Vorontsov castle at Alupka (Ukraine) Source photographed by myself Photographer User:Podvalov Date 2002-09-04 Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1842 KB) Summary Description South view of the Vorontsov castle at Alupka (Ukraine) Source photographed by myself Photographer User:Podvalov Date 2002-09-04 Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on... Buckingham Palace as completed by Blore in 1850. ... Alupka (Ukrainian: , Russian: , Crimean Tatar: ) is a resort town in Crimea, Ukraine, situated 17 km to the west of Yalta. ... Arc de Triomf, Barcelona, 1888. ... This medieval map, which abstracts the known world to a cross inscribed within an orb, remakes geography in the service of Christian iconography. ... Three battles have been known as the Battle of Lepanto: Battle of Lepanto (1499) during the Turkish-Venetian Wars Battle of Lepanto (1500) during the Turkish-Venetian Wars Battle of Lepanto (1571) defeat of the Turkish fleet An earlier battle near modern Lepanto was called the Battle of Naupactus (429...

Said puts forward several definitions of 'Orientalism' in the introduction to Orientalism. Some of these have been more widely quoted and influential than others:

• "A way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient's special place in European Western experience." (p. 1)
• "a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between 'the Orient' and (most of the time) 'the Occident'." (2)
• "A Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient." (3)
• "...particularly valuable as a sign of European-Atlantic power over the Orient than it is as a veridic discourse about the Orient." (6)
• "A distribution of geopolitical awareness into aesthetic, scholarly, economic, sociological, historical, and philological texts." (12)

This article is about the philosophical meaning of ontology. ... This article or section should include material from Episteme Epistemology (from the Greek words episteme=science and logos=word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ...

Criticisms of Said

Critics of Said's theory, such as the historian Bernard Lewis, argue that Said's account ignores the many genuine contributions to the study of Eastern cultures made by Westerners during the Enlightenment and Victorian eras. Said has been criticised for ignoring the massive contribution of German scholars, such as Max Müller, who were in no way involved in any colonial project. Lewis argued that Orientalism arose from humanism, which was distinct from Imperialist ideology, and sometimes in opposition to it. Orientalist study of Islam arose from the rejection of religious dogma, and was an important spur to discovery of alternative cultures. Lewis criticised as "intellectual protectionism" the argument that only those within a culture could usefully discuss it. ^[1]. In his ascerbic rebuttal of Lewis' critique, Said demonstrated how hard it was to debate with a scholar who rejected his opponents' intellectual credibility but stating that the former's negative rejoinder must be placed into its proper context. Since one of Said's principal arguments is that Orientalism was used (wittingly or unwittingly) as an instrument of empire, he contended that Lewis' critique of this thesis could hardly be judged in the disinterested, scholarly light that Lewis would like to present himself, but must be understood in the proper knowledge of what Said claimed was Lewis' own (often masked) neo-imperialist proclivities (as displayed by the latter's political or quasi-political appointments and pronouncements). Thus nothing Lewis said should be given any credence at all as genuine scholarship. Prof. ... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of Great Britain marked the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities—particularly rationalism. ...

Critics of Said have also argued that while many distortions and fantasies certainly existed, the notion of "the Orient" as a negative mirror image of the West cannot be wholly true because attitudes to distinct cultures diverged significantly.^[2] In any case it is a logical necessity that other cultures will be identified as "different", since otherwise their distinctive characteristics would be invisible, and that the most striking differences will hold up the mirror to the observing culture. ^[3]

From "Oriental Studies" to "Asian Studies"

In most North American universities, Oriental Studies has now been replaced by Asian Studies localized to specific regions, such as, Middle Eastern or Near Eastern Studies, South Asian studies, and Far East or East Asian Studies. This reflects the fact that the Orient is not a single, monolithic region but rather a broad area encompassing multiple civilizations. The generic concept of Oriental Studies, to its opponents, has lost any use it may have once had and is perceived as obstructing changes in departmental structures to reflect actual patterns of modern scholarship. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... South Asia is a southern geopolitical region of the Asian continent comprising territories on and in proximity to the Indian subcontinent. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... The word civilization (or civilisation) has a variety of meanings related to human society. ...

Opponents offer various political explantions for the change. They point to a growing number of professional scholars and students of East Asian Studies are Asian Americans, especially Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Korean Americans. This change of labelling may be correlated in some cases to the fact that sensitivity to the term "Oriental" has been heightened in a more politically correct atmosphere, although it began earlier: Sir Bernard Lewis' own department at Princeton University was renamed a decade before Said wrote his book, a detail which Said gets wrong.^[4] By some, the term "Oriental" has come to be thought offensive to non-Westerners. Area studies that incorporate not only philological pursuits but identity politics may also account for the hestitation to use the term "Oriental". An Asian American is a person of Asian ancestry or origin who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ... A Chinese American is an American who is of ethnic Chinese descent. ... Serving from 1999 to 2003, Army General Eric Shinseki of Hawaii became the first Asian American military chief of staff. ... A Korean American is a person of Korean ancestry who was either born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ... Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ... Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Identity politics is the political activity of various social movements for self-determination. ...

Supporters of "Oriental Studies" counter that the term "Asian" is just as encompassing as "Oriental" and may well have originally had the same meaning, if it were derived from an Akkadian word for "East" (a more common derivation is from one or both of two Anatolian proper names.). Replacing one word with another is to confuse historically objectional opinions about the East with the concept of "the East" itself. The terms Oriental/Eastern and Occidental/Western are both inclusive concepts that usefully identify large-scale cultural differences. Such general concepts do not preclude or deny more specific ones. World map showing the location of Asia. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ...

A mirror image: Eastern views of the West

In an enlightening contrast, many of the essentially dismissive and patronizing concepts associated with Western "Orientalism" as expressed above are summed up— but in reverse orientation— in the epilogue to the "Chapter on the Western Regions" according to the Hou Hanshu. This is the official history of the Later (or "Eastern") Han Dynasty (25-221 CE). The book was compiled by Fan Ye, (died 445 CE), and it succinctly expresses the Han opinion of the Western Hu culture (in what is now western China): The Book of Later Han (Chinese:后汉书) is one of the official Chinese historical works which was compiled by Fan Ye in the 5th century, using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources. ... The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 漢朝; Simplified Chinese: 汉朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Han Chau; 206 BC–AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ... Fan Ye was born on October 23, 1986 in Hebei, China. ... HU may mean: Hungary (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code) Humboldt University of Berlin in Berlin, Germany Haigazian University in Beirut, Lebanon Car designation for Hanau, Germany Car designation for Huesca, Spain Hackers Union (H.U.) - a very bad hackers club created by some sad teenagers in the...

The Western Hu are far away.

They live in an outer zone.

Their countries' products are beautiful and precious,

But their character is debauched and frivolous.

They do not follow the rites of China.

Han has the canonical books.

They do not obey the Way of the Gods.

How pitiful!

How obstinate!

Likewise, derogatory or stereotyped portrayals of Westerners appear in many works of Indian, Chinese and Japanese artists.

Ravi Varma's Woman Playing the Veena

In contrast, some Eastern artists adopted and adapted Western styles. The Indian painter Ravi Varma painted several works that are virtually indistinguishable from some Western orientalist images. In the late 20th century many Western cultural themes and images began appearing in Asian art and culture, especially in Japan. English words and phrases are prominent in Japanese advertising and popular culture, and many Japanese animes are written around characters, settings, themes, and mythological figures derived from various Western cultural traditions. Download high resolution version (493x704, 87 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (493x704, 87 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Woman playing the Veena. ... Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) was an Indian painter who achieved recognition for his depiction of scenes from the epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A scene from the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) Anime ) is an abbreviation of the Japanese word アニメーション (animÄ“shon), which is based on the English word animation. ... // The word mythology (Greek: μυθολογία, from μυθος mythos, a story or legend, and λογος logos, an account or speech) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the unive