The Middle East, oriental specialities, oriental kebabs, Oriental Nights scented shampoos – the word “Orient” is very present in our everyday language. But unlike a purely geographical designation, the term conveys much more. Camels, the smell of spices, desert landscapes, veiled women, exotic sounds – in short, a foreign world and way of life.
Most of us do not realise that these ideas and images express a clear hierarchical divide. The presence of the “civilised West”, which talks about – and not with – the “original East” and thus decisively shapes its representation, is not an absolutely new phenomenon.
