Why Has Orientalism Become So Popular?
Although orientalism may seem like a concept related to the East, it is, in fact, everything we interpret when looking from the West toward the East. In other words, those in the East do not call themselves orientalists; it is a name given to them by those far away. We are witnessing orientalism becoming more popular and increasingly prominent in the Western world, and understanding the reason for this is not difficult.
In the West, the linear progression of life, living solely within the realms of goals, achievements, analysis, and systems, forces the mind into an inevitable rigidity. Life is built upon certainties. Under the pressure of these certainties and ideals, people forget imagination, emotions, pleasures, and true fulfillment. They live by lists, clinging to “shoulds” and “musts,” seeking perfection and uniformity.
It’s not the mind but something in the body that begins to signal that life is more than this—a sense of dissatisfaction, a chronic ache, feelings of meaninglessness, existence becoming burdensome, a sense of being lost, confusion, overwhelming stress, and the constant race to catch up. The result is burnout. We rush toward something, without knowing where we are going, yet there is no destination to reach.
You’ve likely heard that in the East, time is understood not as linear, but as cyclical. Things are not defined in straight lines or singular truths. The East is the home of perspectives that intertwine, intersect, coexist, and open a door to freedom in perception. Therefore, to those who view it through the lens of rationalism, it appears mystical, sometimes meaningless. Yet, there’s always a pull toward it, a call that people feel in their quest to find themselves. This is because the sense of self has become trapped and restricted within rigid systems.
As people search for a way out, they seem to sense that being human passes through the realms of “orientalism.” We find ourselves in spaces we cannot define. There is a need to fall into the arms of emotions, into feelings. However, in today’s world, these are often labeled as unnecessary, outdated, and the new “cool” has become emotional numbness. As we march forward with faces set on the future, orientalism calls us back to become earth, to become rhythm, to return to those primal instincts that we label as primitive but which still form the foundation of our existence.
On one hand, to be oriental represents a way of life that is too simple for us to internalize. Our minds cannot be convinced of such simplicity and purity. We search for new knowledge to consume, new experiences to showcase. In doing so, we discard rest and listening, because we feel the need to develop. If we don’t develop, if we don’t keep up with the pace, we are left behind.
Yet, our sense of deficiency doesn’t come from there. It comes from constantly trying to “do” something, while skipping over the real experience of living. Moreover, we don’t even have the opportunity to remember that being human always means being incomplete. We are always running.
Our bodies can show us the necessity of slowing down. Through slow and gentle activation, the body can truly make us feel what it means to exist. Ignoring everything below the head, only prompting it into certain actions (like sexuality, fitness, or battling to lose weight) won’t do justice to the experience of being embodied.
For the unity of body, mind, and emotions, it is essential that we engage in actions or inactions where all three coordinate together. Acting solely from the mind means ignoring a large part of ourselves. Only through this wholeness can we set aside “-isms” and truly understand what is oriental.
Being human is, at its core, inherently oriental. No matter where we are in the world, we are always east of somewhere.
Where are we headed?