Exotic: a fetish for the foreign

Abstract

Exotic explores our obsession with the lure of distant lands and their promise of the weird and wonderful, the beautiful and grotesque. Through a host of evocative images, this book shows how the absorption of 'the foreign,' through arts, design, architecture, and other cultural elements, has consistently enriched Western society, contributing to it cultural dynamism and artistic energy. Exotic's focus is especially relevant to the modern globalised world in which our engagement with cultures and traditions from around the globe is easier - and potentially more fraught - than ever before.

Contents

Introduction -- Earliest exotic -- Exotic easts, from Rome to romanesque -- Self-styled exotic : construction Venice -- From three to four : the invention of America -- Elusive emporia : the Indies' siren call -- Fantastic fripperies : Chinoiserie's heydey -- Turboned terror : Turks on the move -- Retreat to the Seraglio : putting the Turk in his place -- Savages, noble & otherwise -- Savages, novel & nubile -- Antiquity as novelty : Egyptomania -- Exotics everywhere : 19th & 20th century proliferation -- Further reading -- Index.