This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tverbeek (talk | contribs) at 13:47, 30 June 2005 (reorg and rewrite to focus on popular usage ahead of linguistic argumentation; "Category:Depricated terms" apparently has been deprecated. :)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 13:47, 30 June 2005 by Tverbeek (talk | contribs) (reorg and rewrite to focus on popular usage ahead of linguistic argumentation; "Category:Depricated terms" apparently has been deprecated. :))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The term the Orient - literally meaning "the east" - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. For example, Mizrahi Jews (native to the Middle East) are often referred to as Oriental Jews, while the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies focuses on Africa as well as the Middle East and East Asia.
The term is derived from the Latin word oriens, referring to where the sun rises in the east. The opposite term Occident - derived from the Latin word occidens, referring to the west - was once used to describe the western world, but has fallen into disuse.
In popular usage, the Orient is most often used in reference to the countries of East Asia, including China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and sometimes the rest of Southeast Asia. The term oriental refers to people and culture from those areas. Asian countries such as India, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka are no longer generally considered to be part of the Orient.
Some people think of the term oriental as offensive or politically incorrect, largely because of its connection with nineteenth century European and American attitudes about the region. In this world view, the East was seen as backwards, exotic, and patriarchal, while the West was seen as logical, rational, and more modern. Furthermore, courses in "Oriental studies" were riddled with inaccurate information which was used to justify colonization of these countries. Some Asian Americans see parallels between the word oriental and nigger, though many see it as simply old-fashioned, as many African Americans see the word negro.
The term is also criticized as overly vague, referring to a category of peoples with widely divergent cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Since oriental is used to describe peoples and regions that are to the East only in relation to Europe, this term is considered by many as an example of Eurocentrism. The term Middle Eastern and the geopolitical terms of "the West" and "the East" follow the same pattern, yet are subject to less controversy.