The dust jacket of the book is a picture by the 19thcentury french artist, jeanleon gerome, the snake charmer. It is sometimes said that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Much of this outlook is neatly represented by the picture on the dust jacket, resourcefully unearthed by said. New york pantheon books 15 jacket of the hook is a picture by the hcentury french artist, jean. To understand these images, we have to understand the concept of orientalism. The snake charmer is an oiloncanvas orientalist painting by french artist jeanleon gerome produced around 1879. In 1978 the palestinianamerican scholar edward said published his influential and controversial book. The snake charmer is an oiloncanvas orientalist painting by french artist jean leon gerome produced around 1879. Western world, orientalism, the adventures of tintin pages.
He believes that orientalism is a western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the orient. Learn orientalism with free interactive flashcards. This painting shows us a voyeuristic fantasy scene, made of imaginary elements as a representation of our colonial ideology. Since the books first publication in 1978, orientalism has become one of those words that. Indeed, art critic jonathan jones called it a sleazy imperialist vision of the east, and the work even adorned the cover of edward saids seminal 1978 text orientalism, a book that took western culture to task over the way it had patronized the far east and its societies and customs. In art history, literature and cultural studies, orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the eastern world. In geromes the snake charmer, a young child is depicted in nude, with only a large, exquisitely patterned snake wrapped around his torso. Orientalism book wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. It is a book that is rather unlike any ive read before. This painting, the snake charmer, was painted by the french orientalist artist, jeanleon gereme 18241904, in about 1879 and was the cover art for the first edition of edward w.
Entitled the snake charmer, this striking work, which dates from around 18791880, has become almost synonymous. Said, in his groundbreaking book, orientalism, defined it as the. For example, in the painting the snake charmer and his audience, c. Jeanleon geromes the snake charmer has come under particular. Highlighting the importance of the book in his introduction, professor varisco begins by presenting pp. Said defines orientalism as a way of coming to terms with the orient that is based on the. Despite his paintings existing in the victorian era, it is clear through saids book, written. On the front cover of edward saids book, orientalism is a famous scene by jeanleon gerome the snake charmer, 1880.
There are many orientalist visions of the snake charmer gerome did two paintings on the theme, while edwin weeks, fabio fabbi, charles wilda and others did at least one painting with a snake charmer. The homoerotics of orientalism by joseph allen boone. But this should not prevent the reader of orientalism from reading into its cover illustration. It is a biographical account of the life of joe slowinski, one of the worlds great herpetologists. The painting highlights a naked white boy with prominent symmetrical buns facing the viewer and holding aloft the head of a large snake as the body of the reptile. Orientalists are famous for their scholarly portrayals of the nonwest. Orientalism in early modern france refers to the interaction of premodern france with the orient, and especially the cultural, scientific, artistic and inte. Perhaps the most common misunderstanding is that it is about the middle east. After it was used on the cover of edward saids book orientalism in 1978, the work attained a level of notoriety matched by few orientalist paintings, as it became a lightningrod for criticism of orientalism in general and. Said argued that orientalism, in the sense of the western scholarship about the eastern world, is inextricably tied to the. The bestknown and most controversial study of its sort, edward saids orientalism is a scholarly and polemic examination of how scholars and other writers in the west have long viewed the east. Jeanuon gerome, the snake charmer detail, courtesy of the sterling and francine clark art institute, williamstown, massachusetts. To understand these images, we have to understand the concept of orientalism, beginning with the word orient itself. Said, in which the author developed the idea of orientalism to define the wests historically patronizing representations of the eastthe societies and peoples who inhabit the places of asia, north africa, and the middle east.
Populating their paintings with snake charmers, veiled women, and courtesans, orientalist artists created and disseminated fantasy portrayals of the exotic east for european viewers. An analysis of the snake charmer by jeonleon gerome and. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the west. Edward said published the enormously influential book orientalism. Jeanleon geromes painting the snake charmer is a sleazy. The snake charmer, 1870 edward saids orientalism is one of the most influential works of intellectual history of the postwar era. This tendency is exemplified by jeanleon geromes sleazy work the snake charmer 1879, clark art institute, massachusetts, in which a group of men sit on the ground watching a young nude snake charmer, against a dazzling background of islamic tiles that. It often involves seeing arab culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized, and at times dangerous. For nochlin, the snake charmer is a prototypical orientalist work insofar as it.
Orientalism failed to identify with human experience. A group of men sit on the ground watching a nude snake charmer, draped with a slithering phallic python, in front of glittering islamic tiles. In the late 1970s, the survey range of orientalism 1978 did not include the genre of orientalist painting or any other visual arts, despite the book cover featuring a detailimage of the snake charmer 1880, a popular, 19thcentury orientalist painting to which the writer linda nochlin applied saids method of critical analysis with. Fittingly, the snake charmer was used as the book cover for the first edition of edward saids orientalism, a seminal 1978 text in cultural criticism that shaped academic discourse. A starknaked boy of about 12, with a python around his shoulders, stands facing an old sheik, armed to the teeth, surrounded by retainers in a bluetiled. In the late 1970s, the survey range of orientalism 1978 did not include the genre of orientalist painting or any other visual arts, despite the book cover featuring a detailimage of the snake charmer 1880, a popular, 19thcentury orientalist paintingto which the writer linda nochlin applied saids method of critical analysis with. Slowinski dedicated his life to studying snakes and, in particular, poisonous snakes. Choose from 500 different sets of orientalism flashcards on quizlet. The cover of the book orientalism 1978 is a detail from the 19thcentury orientalist painting the snake charmer, by jeanleon gerome. The book cover of orientalism was jeanleon geromes the snake charmer, the rear view of a naked young boy, his torso wrapped in a snake. The snake charmer is one of two books i plucked from dr. In particular, orientalist painting, depicting more specifically the middle east, was one of the many specialisms of 19thcentury academic art, and the literature of western countries. If the global war on terror has taught us anything, it is that the road to barbarism begins with this failure.
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