Re: OT: [Let_It_Be_Forever_Islam] THE WORLD OF THE JINN

On Fri, Oct 17, 2003 at 10:32:17PM -0400, J Y S Czhang wrote:
>     It is not so much Political Correctness as geo-cultural accuracy - hence
> the National Geographic's current policy of using _Asian_ and _Asia_ versus
> "Oriental" and "[the] Orient."
Accept that Asia is a pretty big place, of which "the Orient" is only
one part.  So it would seem to be a more precise term.

>  Nowadays, use of the words "Oriental" and "[the] Orient" smacks/smells of
> exoticism and "Orientalism" - European conceptions and misconceptions of Asia
> and Asians.
Well, misconceptions will persist no matter what they call their target. :)
I don't think the increasing Western awareness of what the various Asian
cultures are really like is due to a vocabulary change.

> It also creates the false dichotomy of "Orient" and "Occident."
"Orient" and "Occident"  are just "East" and "West" gussied up.
How is that a false dichotomy?

-Mark