Description
Book SynopsisSince the publication of Edward Said's groundbreaking work
Orientalism 35 years ago, numerous studies have explored the West's fraught and enduring fascination with the so-called Orient. Focusing their critical attention on the literary and pictorial arts, these studies have, to date, largely neglected the world of interior design.
Oriental Interiors is the first book to fully explore the formation and perception of eastern-inspired interiors from an orientalist perspective. Orientalist spaces in the West have taken numerous forms since the 18th century to the present day, and the fifteen chapters in this collection reflect that diversity, dealing with subjects as varied and engaging as harems, Turkish baths on RMS
Titanic, Parisian bachelor quarters, potted palms, and contemporary yoga studios. It explores how furnishings, surface treatments, ornament and music, for example, are deployed to enhance the exoticism and pleasures of oriental spaces, looking across
Trade ReviewThis is the first book to fully explore the formation and perception of Eastern-influenced interiors. Potvin (Concordia Univ., Montreal) divides the essays into three parts: "Modes of Display and Representation," "Gendered and Sexual Identities," and "Spaces and Markets of Consumption." Highlighting design influences such as spatial arrangement, visual culture, gender, and design theory, the 13 essays look at furnishings, ornaments, and other components as they assist to create Oriental interiors.
Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. * CHOICE *
This engaging collection of fifteen essays breaks new ground in the study of the neglected subject of the interior in relation to Orientalism, covering a range of examples from the 18th century to the present day, by scholars of art, architecture, film, literature, decorative arts and furniture and theatre design. * Louisa Iarocci, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Washington, USA *
Oriental Interiors is a splendid collection of essays that take the reader on a journey through the visual, material and ideological aspects of its topic. The book explores the myriad ramifications of the concept of 'oriental interiors' and demonstrates that it is far more than style, being a complex mix of commerce, politics and consumption practices. * Clive Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Design History, Loughborough University, UK *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Inside Orientalism: Hybrid Spaces and Modern Interior Design
John Potvin, Concordia University, Canada Section I: Modes of Display and Representation Introduction to Section I Chapter 1: The Emptiness of Western Aesthetics Versus the Aesthetics of Eastern Intimacy: A Reading of Interior Spaces and (Colonial) Literary Impressionism in E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India
Victor Vargas, Cogswell Polytechnic, USA Chapter 2: The Exhibitionary Re-production of ‘Islamic’ Architecture
Solmaz Mohammadzadeh Kive, University of Colorado, USA Chapter 3: Promoting the Colonial Empire through French Interior Design
Laura Sextro, University of Dayton, USA Chapter 4: Orientalism and David Hockney’s Male-positive Imaginative Geographies
Dennis S. Gouws, Springfield College and the Australian Institute of Male Health and Studies, Australia Chapter 5: The Excessive Trompe l’Oeil: The Saturated Interior in Tears of the Black Tiger
Mark Taylor, University of Newcastle, Australia and Michael J. Ostwald, University of Newcastle, Australia Section II: Gendered and Sexual Identities Introduction to Section II Chapter 6: On Oriental Interiors in Eighteenth-century British Women Writers’ Novels
Marianna D’Ezio, Luspio University for International Studies of Rome, Italy Chapter 7: Bachelor Quarters: The Spaces of Japonisme in Nineteenth-century Paris
Christopher Reed, Pennsylvania State University, USA Chapter 8: Coming Out of the China Closet?: Performance, Identity and Sexuality in the House Beautiful Anne Anderson, Hon. Research Fellow Exeter University and Associate MIRC, Kingston University, UK Chapter 9: Orientalism, Collecting and Shame: Inside Rolf de Maré’s Hildesborg Estate John Potvin, Concordia University, Canada
Section III: Spaces and Markets of Consumption Introduction to Section III Chapter 10: Paradise in the Parlour: Potted Palms in Western Interiors, 1850 – 1914
Penny Sparke, Kingston University, UK Chapter 11: Traveling in Time and Space: The Cinematic Landscape of the Empress Theatre
Camille Bédard, McGill University, Canada Chapter 12: Oriental Spaces at Sea: From the Titanic to the Empress of Britain
Anne Massey, Middlesex University, UK Chapter 13: Posturing for Authenticity: Embodying Otherness in Contemporary Interiors of Modern Yoga
Lauren Bird, Queen’s University, Canada Index
