Orientalism is a term used by scholars in art history, literary, geography, and cultural studies for an approach to the depiction of "Oriental" (that is Eastern) cultures (including those of the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia) taken by writers, designers, and artists from the West, particularly in the nineteenth century. In particular, Orientalist painting depicting "the Middle East" was a genre of 19th-century Academic art. The literature of Western countries took a similar interest in Oriental themes. It is also used for the use of Asian styles in Western art, especially in architecture and the decorative arts. Since the publication of Edward Said's Orientalism in 1978, much academic discourse has used the term "Orientalism" in a more restricted sense, to characterize a perceived patronizing Western attitude towards Near Eastern societies that is used to justify Western imperialism. In Said's analysis, the West essentializes these societies as...