Orientalism and Occidentalism Reconsidered - Foundation Office Israel
Workshop
Details
Orientalism and Occidentalism are shorthand for a variety of shared attitudes between the people of Western and Eastern civilizations. Though they can include fascination, eroticism and respect towards certain features of the other civilization, for the most part they consist of mutual distrust, condescension, anxieties and even hatred. These views and emotions influence policies, past and present. They leave their mark on the willingness or unwillingness of the two sides to cooperate with each other, to invest economically, to integrate communities, to adopt values and lifestyles. Yet, although these emotions are deeply engrained in each of the civilizations, they are not eternal. They evolve and they can change.