Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing Cigarette

“Smoking concubines reveal to us the secret of the harem”, Professor Luthmer explained in 1894. This promising image is a sign board inviting tourists to the worlds of the Orient, developed by the occident to escape daily life, eroticized by the tales of The Arabian Nights. Hidden in the harem, the...

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Main Author: Liesbeth Grotenhuis
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Association Via@ 2018-05-01
Series:Via@
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1842
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author Liesbeth Grotenhuis
author_facet Liesbeth Grotenhuis
author_sort Liesbeth Grotenhuis
collection DOAJ
description “Smoking concubines reveal to us the secret of the harem”, Professor Luthmer explained in 1894. This promising image is a sign board inviting tourists to the worlds of the Orient, developed by the occident to escape daily life, eroticized by the tales of The Arabian Nights. Hidden in the harem, the painting made the odalisque available for western eyes: lounging, dancing and above all, blatantly smoking. The Orient was “nicotinized”: fumes evoked dreams and hallucinations, as well as steamy sexual suggestions. But above all, it created an image of otherness since European women were not allowed to have a cigarette between their lips; this was the emblem for prostitutes. Even when photography came into fashion, these dream worlds were presented on postcards, rather than what was actually experienced.Zooming in on Egypt, a pinch of pharaonic elegance could be added. Indeed, Egyptian tobacco was famous and used in the production of western cigarettes. Sold in eye-catching tin boxes, the Egyptian landscape illustrations soon changed into better selling eastern beauties, obviously tempting potential male users. Yet after the emancipation of tobacco in the west, the historical queens Cleopatra and Nefertiti invited tourist to the dream world of Egypt.
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spelling doaj-art-44a3aad5cbf34912b31704f17ecbc9772025-01-30T14:06:02ZdeuAssociation Via@Via@2259-924X2018-05-011110.4000/viatourism.1842Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing CigaretteLiesbeth Grotenhuis“Smoking concubines reveal to us the secret of the harem”, Professor Luthmer explained in 1894. This promising image is a sign board inviting tourists to the worlds of the Orient, developed by the occident to escape daily life, eroticized by the tales of The Arabian Nights. Hidden in the harem, the painting made the odalisque available for western eyes: lounging, dancing and above all, blatantly smoking. The Orient was “nicotinized”: fumes evoked dreams and hallucinations, as well as steamy sexual suggestions. But above all, it created an image of otherness since European women were not allowed to have a cigarette between their lips; this was the emblem for prostitutes. Even when photography came into fashion, these dream worlds were presented on postcards, rather than what was actually experienced.Zooming in on Egypt, a pinch of pharaonic elegance could be added. Indeed, Egyptian tobacco was famous and used in the production of western cigarettes. Sold in eye-catching tin boxes, the Egyptian landscape illustrations soon changed into better selling eastern beauties, obviously tempting potential male users. Yet after the emancipation of tobacco in the west, the historical queens Cleopatra and Nefertiti invited tourist to the dream world of Egypt.https://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1842orientalismsmokingodalisqueEgyptTurkeypicture postcard
spellingShingle Liesbeth Grotenhuis
Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing Cigarette
Via@
orientalism
smoking
odalisque
Egypt
Turkey
picture postcard
title Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing Cigarette
title_full Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing Cigarette
title_fullStr Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing Cigarette
title_full_unstemmed Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing Cigarette
title_short Smoking Hot: the Odalisque’s eroticizing Cigarette
title_sort smoking hot the odalisque s eroticizing cigarette
topic orientalism
smoking
odalisque
Egypt
Turkey
picture postcard
url https://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1842
work_keys_str_mv AT liesbethgrotenhuis smokinghottheodalisqueseroticizingcigarette