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Exoticism (from exotic) is a trend in art and design, whereby artists became fascinated with ideas and styles from distant regions and drew inspiration from them.
The term exoticism describes a cultural phenomenon that projects Western fantasies about profound cultural differences. It adopts a cultural perspective that is firmly entrenched in the conventions and belief systems of Western civilization and therefore constructs the East as the archetypical location of otherness.
A romanticization, fetishization, and/or commodification of ethnic, racial, or cultural otherness, as in orientalism, or primitivizing representations of the ‘noble savage’.
Like Orientalist subjects in nineteenth-century painting, exoticism in the decorative arts and interior decoration was associated with fantasies of opulence and “barbaric splendour,” in the words of the English explorer, linguist, and writer, Sir Richard F. Burton (1821–1890).
May 8, 2024 · Exoticism is a mode of representation that focuses on the perceived differences between cultures, often emphasizing the foreign, unfamiliar, or “other.” It can involve objectification, idealization, and the reinforcement of power imbalances between the observer and the observed.
This chapter discusses new perspectives on exoticism, exoticism as an Aesthetics of Diversity, Victor Segalen's views on the exoticist tradition, and threats and responses to twentieth-century exoticism.
Jan 1, 2016 · Exoticism is an important ingredient for various tourist experiences, linked to motifs of nostalgia, spirituality, and escape in postmodern tourism (Huggan 2001).
