Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian Homes

During the 19th century as and when Europeans developed a keen interest in what was described as the ‘Orient’—ranging from architecture in Moorish Spain to the faces and places in Northern Africa and the Middle East–—images of an exotic fantasised Orient bounced back to Europe, in particular through...

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Main Author: Gilles Teulié
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2019-06-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cve/5178
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author Gilles Teulié
author_facet Gilles Teulié
author_sort Gilles Teulié
collection DOAJ
description During the 19th century as and when Europeans developed a keen interest in what was described as the ‘Orient’—ranging from architecture in Moorish Spain to the faces and places in Northern Africa and the Middle East–—images of an exotic fantasised Orient bounced back to Europe, in particular through the works of artists who painted what they had seen, or thought they had seen. The Orientalist movement was buttressed by Napoleonic expeditions in Egypt or the travel boom (Eugène Delacroix in Morocco). And yet suffice it to say that only the elite had access to these visual representations, either by becoming owners of paintings or by admiring them in art galleries, the prerogative of the educated and the wealthy. It is against this context that the article will consider how ‘high culture’ and ‘popular culture’ (and particularly postcards) permeated Victorian and Edwardian society, and through the transformative power of the Arts, contributed eminently to the consolidation of the imperial project.
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institution Kabale University
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series Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
spelling doaj-art-17d9ab5f222b4d6bb5e540f42de32e1c2025-01-30T10:22:21ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492019-06-018910.4000/cve.5178Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian HomesGilles TeuliéDuring the 19th century as and when Europeans developed a keen interest in what was described as the ‘Orient’—ranging from architecture in Moorish Spain to the faces and places in Northern Africa and the Middle East–—images of an exotic fantasised Orient bounced back to Europe, in particular through the works of artists who painted what they had seen, or thought they had seen. The Orientalist movement was buttressed by Napoleonic expeditions in Egypt or the travel boom (Eugène Delacroix in Morocco). And yet suffice it to say that only the elite had access to these visual representations, either by becoming owners of paintings or by admiring them in art galleries, the prerogative of the educated and the wealthy. It is against this context that the article will consider how ‘high culture’ and ‘popular culture’ (and particularly postcards) permeated Victorian and Edwardian society, and through the transformative power of the Arts, contributed eminently to the consolidation of the imperial project.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/5178imperialismBritish EmpirepostcardsorientalismVictoriansEdwardians
spellingShingle Gilles Teulié
Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian Homes
Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
imperialism
British Empire
postcards
orientalism
Victorians
Edwardians
title Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian Homes
title_full Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian Homes
title_fullStr Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian Homes
title_full_unstemmed Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian Homes
title_short Orientalism and the British Picture Postcard Industry: Popularizing the Empire in Victorian and Edwardian Homes
title_sort orientalism and the british picture postcard industry popularizing the empire in victorian and edwardian homes
topic imperialism
British Empire
postcards
orientalism
Victorians
Edwardians
url https://journals.openedition.org/cve/5178
work_keys_str_mv AT gillesteulie orientalismandthebritishpicturepostcardindustrypopularizingtheempireinvictorianandedwardianhomes