Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To make something have qualities, characteristics, or an appearance considered typical of or associated with the East, particularly East Asia. This often involves incorporating stylistic, aesthetic, or cultural elements.

Usage

• The verb "orientalise" describes the act of modifying or adapting something so that it reflects an Eastern, especially East Asian, style or character. It is typically used in contexts discussing art, design, culture, or aesthetics.
• Important Note: This word can carry problematic connotations, as it is often based on a Western perspective of the "Orient" and can involve stereotypes or superficial adaptations of complex cultures. Its use is sometimes criticized in academic and cultural discourse.

Examples

• Verb:
  • The interior designer sought to orientalise the room by adding shoji screens and a tatami mat.
  • Some 19th-century European artists attempted to orientalise their paintings by including motifs they associated with the Middle East.

Advanced Usage

• Cultural Critique: In post-colonial and cultural studies, "orientalise" is often used critically to describe the process of imposing Western interpretations and stereotypes onto Eastern societies, a concept related to Edward Said's "Orientalism."
  • The film was accused of trying to orientalise the setting, reducing a diverse region to a collection of clichés.

Variants and Related Words

• Orientalize: The preferred spelling in American English.
• Orientalism (n): A term for the academic study of Eastern cultures or, more critically, the Western depiction of Eastern cultures as exotic, backward, and uncivilized.
• Orientalist (n/adj): A scholar of Eastern cultures or (critically) someone who engages in stereotypical depictions of the East.

Synonyms

• Easternize: To give Eastern characteristics to (less common and also potentially problematic).
• Exoticize: To portray or perceive as exotic, often stripping context (this is a broader, related critical term).

Antonyms

• Westernize: To make something characteristic of the West.
• Assimilate: To absorb and integrate into a wider culture or system.

Verb

1. make oriental in character
   • orientalize your garden