Kentucky Belly Dance home » Orientalism in my Library
Orientalism is defined in Wikipedia as the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists. Some others phrase it more strongly, and more negatively, as a representation of the Orient based on fantasy. Relying on inaccurate or imaginary accounts of other people causes problems if you are trying to establish diplomatic or economic relations with them, or present an ethnic dance or evening of music, or interact with them at work.
However, when curled up by the fireside on a chilly night, my hand is as likely to reach for books by Orientalists as soon as ones by Sci-Fi writers. I like them. I don't believe they are real. They seem to come from another planet. And they also help me understand what may have gone before in the relationships between East and West.
A number of these are in the public domain, and their links lead to online copies.
A YEAR AMONG the PERSIANS by EDWARD GRANVILLE BROWNE, impressions developed during a 1887-88 trip to Persia (Iraq).
LETTERS of the RIGHT HONORABLE LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGUE, by Lady Mary Wortley Montague
LEONA WOOD. a volume of paintings assembled after her death by friends, among whom was one of the subjects of her painting, Aisha Ali. Leona was a book designer and illustrator who took up ethnic dance in mid-life and achieved success in both fields. Her painting Entertainment in the Desert is familar to many dancers as the cover for the Music of the Ouled Nail album published by Aisha Ali.
PERSIAN PICTURES by GERTRUDE BELL. Gertrude Bell, linguist, archaelologist, and explorer; brilliant, wealthy and well-connected; contenporary and politcal peer of T E Lawrence, is known, better or worse, as the woman who shaped post-War I Iraq. Her observations were those of a well-educated Western person who travelled in and loved the Middle East.
RUBAIYAT of OMAR KHAYYAM, as translated by Edward FitzGerald, has been the inspiration for countless Oreintalist illustrations. In addition, the translation is a good deal FitzGerald's own creation, something he himself did not hide. The illustrators Elihy Veder Edmund Dulac provided early and still very popular illustrations for FitzGerald's translation.
TALES of the ALHAMBRA by IRVING WASHINGTON. Mr. Washington didn't just write about headless horsemen. He was a traveller, a researcher and a diplomat, and he loved Granada, Spain. This book was instrumental in reintroducing the history of Moorish Spain to the West, which in turn generated literature, architecture and music tailored to Western taste.
WIKIPEDIA has a fine collection of prominent examples of Moorish Revival architecture. "Little distinction was made in European and American practice between motifs drawn from Ottoman Turkey or from Andalusia [Arabic Spain]. "
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