The 19th century as the century of orientalism

Abstract

This essay analize three aspects that must be considered as constitutive of nineteenth-century European Orientalism. Returning to Said's proposals, I explored the scientific efforts of the first Orientalists and their relationship with the colonial dominion over the Orient; at the same time, this work investigates the role of Romanticism in the projection of an oriental world linked to mysticism and spirituality. Resignifying the Saidian proposal, some devices and artifacts that made orientalism circulate among different social sectors are addressed, such as travel books, shows and consumer products, which allowed orientalism to insert itself into the urban daily life of the metropolis.