Oriental (word)

The Orient and its cognates traditionally referred to a generalized notion of the "East," including the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. 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 word "Oriental"

See Orientalism

The adjective Oriental originates in the Latin word oriens, meaning to rise, thus: the region of the rising sun, i.e. the "Far East." The first recorded use of Orient in English is in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1375), borrowed from Old French, and oriental as an adjective was used in about 1386 in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women. . While the geographical term "Orient" is relatively neutral, the adjective and substantive forms are offensive when applied to individuals. ("I ordered oriental rice" is acceptable; "I handed my coat to an oriental woman" is not.) The reason is that the usage carries heavy baggage: a long tradition of exotic/foreign/inscrutable/mysterious connotations, which coincide with many of the stereotypes held of Asian Americans, and the indicriminate groups together of groups with very distinct identities (such as Chinese, Japanese and Koreans) perhaps because Westerners could not tell them apart. Alan Hu writes, "The upshot is to use whatever word you feel most comfortable with, or that makes your listeners most comfortable, but don't be surprised if someone takes offense."

The adjective "oriental" has thus been used in Occidental (Western) societies as a term to describe cultures, cuisines, and goods (like rugs) from the Orient.

In the 1960s Asian Americans began protesting the term as applied to people as insulting, and many sensitivity guides recommend against usage. Other formerly common terms such as "Asiatic" and "Jap" also were denounced as insulting when applied to people. Of course a great many words are considered politically incorrect and Clinton-appointee to the Department of Education and author Diane Ravitch has documented a ridiculously long list of seemingly innocuous but still banned words in her book The Language Police. The American Heritage Book of English Usage explains:

Oriental is not an ethnic slur to be avoided in all situations. It is most objectionable in contemporary contexts and when used as a noun, as in "the appointment of an Oriental to head the commission". In these cases Asian (or a more specific term such as Vietnamese, Korean, or Asian American, if appropriate) is the only acceptable term. But in certain historical contexts, or when its exotic connotations are integral to the topic, Oriental remains a useful term.

Random House's Guide to Sensitive Language states "Other words (e.g., Oriental, colored) are outdated or inaccurate." This Guide to Sensitive Language suggests the use of "Asian" or more specific designation such as Pacific Islander, Chinese American, or Korean. While the term "Oriental" is an example of Eurocentrism some endorse Eurocentrism and use the term deliberately.

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

Controversial and non-controversial usage

Terms in common, non-controversial usage include species names ("oriental fuit fly") and cuisines ("oriental rice"), and usage in technical literature such as medicine. However "oriental medicine" is somewhat more controversial. 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.

Numerous organizations have a legacy use of "oriental" dating back many decades and have not changed. Legacy usage includes the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge both have a Faculty of Oriental Studies; they focus on the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. The Oriental Instititute at the University of Chicago has been a leading research center since 1919. Scholars in the field belong to the The American Oriental Society, founded in 1842.

Others legacies include the Oriental Food Association , Oriental Bellydancer Association , and the Shriners (from 1903). The American Association of Oriental Medicine and state associations of oriental medicine still use the term. The Oriental Martial Arts College and other martial arts organizations employ the term regularly. Many Asian gangs such as the OPB, Oriental Playboys, and the ORB Oriental Rutheless Boys, refer to themselves as oriental to stress they are outside social norms .

Likewise the pornographic world uses "oriental" regularly to describe models behaving in socially unacceptable ways.

Alternative terminology

Those who consider the term derogatory or archaic prefer to employ geographical terms for people and places, e.g., South Asia, East Asia, and South-East Asia. Although Far Eastern is considered less offensive than Oriental, East Asian is preferred because this term is significantly less Eurocentric. Other alternative terms include Asia and the Pacific or the Pacific Rim or the Pacific Basin. Terms such as these may also be preferred because they do not collapse East and South-east Asian peoples into the same group.

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