The Pre-Raphaelites and Orientalism

The Pre-Raphaelites and Orientalism' redefines the task of interpreting the East in the late nineteenth century. It takes as a starting point Edward Said's 'Orientalism' (1978) in order to investigate the latent and manifest traces of the East in Pre-Raphaelite literature and culture. As Eleonora Sasso demonstrates, the Pre-Raphaelites and their associates appeared to be the most eligible representatives of a profoundly conservative manifestation of the Orient, of its mystic aura, criminal underworld, and feminine sensuality, or to put it into Arabic terms, of its aja'ib (marvels), mutalibun (treasure-hunters) and hur al-ayn (femmes fatales). By combining together Western and Oriental modes of art, this study fills a gap in Pre-Raphaelite and Oriental studies.