Oriental (word)

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The Orient is a term that traditionally used in European culture to refer to the Middle-East, South Asia, and East Asia, or more specifically most regions east of Europe. In modern usage, it generally refers to those parts of Asia east of Afghanistan, but outside of the Indian sub-continent; this would include Burma, Cambodia, China, Japan, parts of Indonesia, Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Tibet and Vietnam.

The adjective "oriental" has thus been used in "Western" societies as a term to describe cultures, countries, peoples and goods from the Orient. For example, Mizrahi Jews (native to the Middle East) are often referred to as Oriental Jews and it is common in older universities: the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge both have a Faculty of Oriental Studies that focuses on the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. The American Oriental Society remains the premier body for the study of Oriental societies. In adjectival use in these contexts, it is a neutral term, but in its substantive form (referring to an individual person) is potentially offensive; see the section on "Perceptions and conntations" below.

Derivation

The term "Orient" is derived from the Latin word oriens, the present participle of "orior": to rise. The implication is that it refers to the rising sun. Thus, "Orient" describes the "land of the rising sun", i.e. the "Far East", and is exactly analogous with the Chinese (and Japanese) term for Japan. Similar terms such as "Levant" of French derivation and "Anatolia" from the Greek anatole, describe locations for the direction in which the sun rises. The opposite term "Occident" - derived from the Latin word occidens, from the verb "occido": I fall - was once used to describe the western world, i.e. the "land of the falling (setting) sun".

The creation of a polarity oriens/occidens originated in Roman imperial administration from the time of Diocletian and was taken up in Christian Latin literature. Despite this some scholars claim the term Orient did not enter Western European languages until the time of the Crusades[1]

Perceptions and connotations

Although the adjective oriental is a relatively neutral term, the use of the word as a substantive, as in "I passed an Oriental on the street," is considered offensive by many persons to whom it might be applied. Part of the negative reaction is the term's conflation of quite different Asian cultures and regions, and another from its association with Western imperialism and racialized notions of Asian peoples in past centuries.

According to Abdurrahman R. Squires "politically correct terms have taken the place of the word 'Orientalism'". [2] According to The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook the term is offensive and should be avoided. [3] However, the entire concept of political correctness and its many implications are the center of much debate. Thus, there is a certain degree of controversy associated with any politically correct term. So, while some people in 21st century America consider the term oriental derogatory, there are others who dispute this connotation.

For a more complete discussion of this term and its usage, see Oriental.

Current Usage of Oriental and Related Depictions

The term is used widely across a broad spectrum of North America.

In Government

Although the term Oriental is "sometimes offensive", the term remains inoffensive sometimes and wide use in across the United States. This usage is evidenced by many sources. The term is used on a great number of governmental document and websites across in the USA describing place names [4], medicine[5][6], wildlife [7][8] plants[9], food[10][11] and people [12][13][14] or communities.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The term is even found on Equal Opportunity Employment[22] and Fair Housing [23] documents.

Conversely, at least two state legislatures have passed or proposed legislation declaring a preference for terms other than Oriental in official documents. A finding by the Washington State legislature held that

the use of the term "Oriental" when used to refer to persons of Asian descent is outdated and pejorative. There is a need to make clear that the term "Asian" is preferred terminology, and that this more modern and nonpejorative term must be used to replace outdated terminology.[24]

In 2005, the California senate mandated that the terms "oriental massage" and "oriental medicine" in existing statutes be changed to "Asian medicine" and "Asian massage." [25] Despite this "mandate" businesses and schools across California and the country continue to employ the term. [26][27][28][29] California has not purged the term from current documents or websites and the term remains on many pages which display "© 2007 State of California". [30][31] [32] [33][34]

In Business

Businesses such as Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Mandarin Oriental, Oriental Financial Group, Inc.,Orient Thai Airlines, Orient Steam Navigation Company, Orient Watch Co., Neptune Orient Lines are just a few of many successful enterprises to share this term as a part of their name.

In Academia

Many universities no longer accept the usage of the term Oriental when describing people. [35] However, the highly-regarded American Oriental Society and many others continue to use the term in its publishings. [36][37][38][39]

Other

According to the FBI, some Asian gangs, the "OPB" ("Oriental Playboys"), and the ORB ("Oriental Rutheless Boys"), refer to themselves as oriental. [40][41]

Conservative commentators [42] and prominent Filipina Michelle Malkin regularly employ the term. [43] [44] [45][46].

The Oriental Food Association [47], Oriental Bellydancer Association [48][49], The Association of Oriental Arts [50], the Shriners [51][52] and other social groups continue to use the term. The American Association of Oriental Medicine and many other state-specific associations of oriental medicine still use the term. [53] The World Wide Web has a profusion of "oriental" pornography and so-called mail order bride sites that exploit stereotypes as well desperate individuals on both sides of the transaction. [54][55][56] The Oriental Martial Arts College and other martial arts organizations employ the term regularly. [57][58][59]

Regional Variations

Major objections to the use of the word "Oriental" are chiefly limited to certain elements in North America. Its usage is not controversial in Europe, where the word is considered neutral and in widespread usage as evidenced by its usage on the online British Monarchy Media Centre.[60] In France the terms "l'Occident" and "l'Orient" are used without any negative associations in academic contexts. In Europe the term is often used to describe such things as the East's cuisine and goods, ancient culture, and religions, at times to denote an exotic quality with upmarket or mildly positive connotations. In the UK the term "Asian" has become almost exclusively tied to the Indian subcontinent, as evidenced through BBC Asian Network, a radio station of the BBC devoted to the British Asian community - though the term South Asian is becoming more widely-used.[61]

Notes

  1. ↑ Walter Burkert, The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age (Harvard University Press) 1992 p. 1 and note.
  2. ↑ http://www.muslim-answers.org/orientalism.htm
  3. ↑ Beard, Henry and Cerf, Christopher. The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook. New York: Villard Books, 1993.
  4. ↑ http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/pr2004/pr04_61.html
  5. ↑ http://www.acupuncture.ca.gov/pubs_forms/cons_guide_2002.pdf
  6. ↑ http://www.health.gov/nhic/NHICScripts/Entry.cfm?HRCode=HR2824
  7. ↑ http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2003/January/Day-10/i491.htm
  8. ↑ http://ecos.fws.gov/species_profile/servlet/gov.doi.species_profile.servlets.SpeciesProfile?spcode=B03C
  9. ↑ http://www.in.gov/dnr/invasivespecies/oriental_bittersweet_1.pdf
  10. ↑ http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/syah/orierice.htm
  11. ↑ http://hawaii.gov/health/about/rules/11-29.pdf
  12. ↑ http://bioethics.gov/transcripts/jun03/session2.html
  13. ↑ http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cis_ofis_fis_1043_24817_7.pdf
  14. ↑ http://www.fws.gov/midwest/horicon/nativeamericans.html
  15. ↑ http://www.loc.gov/acq/devpol/sociology.html
  16. ↑ http://vitalrecords.alaska.gov/dph/bvs/PDFs/1999/annual_report/Introduction.pdf
  17. ↑ http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/Folder.2005-11-23.1639/ec02-reference/small_diner_condensed_final.pdf
  18. ↑ http://www.nps.gov/archive/manz/hrs/hrs10i.htm
  19. ↑ http://www.va.gov/vetapp/files1/9401243.txt
  20. ↑ http://www.michigan.gov/documents/GBFT0203_61996_7.pdf
  21. ↑ http://www.nifl.gov/nifl-health/1998/0198.html
  22. ↑ http://ocp.dc.gov/ocp/frames.asp?doc=/ocp/lib/ocp/information/solatt/attachment_j.04_eeo_compliance_documents.doc&open=%7C34644%7C
  23. ↑ http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/library/part109.pdf
  24. ↑ RCW 1.20.130: "Preferred terminology in government documents." Revised Code of Washington
  25. ↑ California State Senate
  26. ↑ http://www.acupuncture.ca.gov/education/schools.htm
  27. ↑ http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypMap.py?Pyt=Typ&tuid=12363968&ck=2317990383&tab=B2C&tcat=8106973&city=Monterey&state=CA&uzip=93940&country=us&msa=7120&cs=4&ed=3Cjhzq1o2TwW0JlAiouvxdEhci7IWZ92n2SEvi.yLw_KCQ--&stat=:pos:0:regular:regT:2:fbT:0
  28. ↑ http://www.csomaonline.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3289
  29. ↑ http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypResults.py?stx=oriental+medicine&stp=a&tab=B2C&city=Los+Angeles&state=CA&uzip=90012&country=us&msa=4480&slt=34.052170&sln=-118.243469&cs=4&Submit=Search
  30. ↑ http://www.acupuncture.ca.gov/law_reg/art35
  31. ↑ http://www.acupuncture.ca.gov/exams/stats_mar2006.htm
  32. ↑ http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=27949&MERCURYSID=719fb03a0214a10a71b0f5217cfbddae
  33. ↑ http://www.acupuncture.ca.gov/law_reg/1399_45_modtext.pdf
  34. ↑ http://www.acupuncture.ca.gov/pubs_forms/cons_guide_2002.pdf
  35. ↑ http://www.freewebs.com/bannedwords
  36. ↑ http://www.degruyter.de/journals/zac/261_5290_ENU_h.htm
  37. ↑ http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/default.html
  38. ↑ http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/linguist/index.html
  39. ↑ http://www.ksi.edu/seke/cpol.html
  40. ↑ http://www.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel03/release121903.htm
  41. ↑ http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2003/feb2003/feb03leb.htm
  42. ↑ http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16541
  43. ↑ http://michellemalkin.com/archives/000239.htm
  44. ↑ http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006107.htm?print=1
  45. ↑ http://michellemalkin.com/archives/000239.htm
  46. ↑ http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&pg=aq&aqmode=s&aqa=oriental&aqp=&aqo=&aqn=&aqb=&kgs=1&kls=0&dt=tmperiod&d2=0&dfr%5Bd%5D=1&dfr%5Bm%5D=1&dfr%5By%5D=1980&dto%5Bd%5D=4&dto%5Bm%5D=11&dto%5By%5D=2006&filetype=&rc=dmn&swd=michellemalkin.com&lh=&nbq=10
  47. ↑ http://www.orientalfood.org/
  48. ↑ http://www.orientdance.ru/index_e.htm
  49. ↑ http://homepage.realtv21.com/?userid=obda_1&pagetype=&viewno=94
  50. ↑ http://www.art-virtue.com/demo/2006-TaoArt/index.htm
  51. ↑ http://www.webruler.com/shriners/oriental.htm
  52. ↑ http://www.ladiesorientalshrine.org/home.html
  53. ↑ http://www.aaom.org/ Website of American Association of Oriental Medicine
  54. ↑ http://www.oriental-bikini.com/
  55. ↑ http://www.orientals.com/
  56. ↑ http://www.orientalcompanion.com
  57. ↑ http://www.omacworld.com
  58. ↑ http://www.west-meet-east.com/martialarts.htm
  59. ↑ http://www.orientalmartialarts.org/
  60. ↑ http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page5495.asp
  61. ↑ BBC Asian Network: 'Don't Call Me Asian.' 9th October 2006.

References and further reading

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