Exoticism & Orientalism

Harvard FAS

The course explores cultural and artistic engagement with the trope of the “other” in 18th- and 19th-century France, Britain, and elsewhere. Paintings, prints, travel and costume books, architecture, and design will be discussed in broader social and cultural contexts. While considering different interpretive paradigms, we’ll focus on the most recent approaches that depart from fixed binary oppositions and monolithic treatment of the “Orient” versus the “Occident.” Emphasis will be placed on…