Oriental or Orientalist? A Study of the Orientalist Perception in the Ottoman Empire from the Perspective of Furniture

Orientalism, attributed to the 19th century and to Orientalist discourse, is often expressed in cultural and ideological platforms in defining the relationship of power between East and West. However, by finding its expression in Edward Said's work, Orientalism allows many studies to be done with new perspectives and interpretations. This concept, which the West uses to define the East, adopts a complexity of meanings by settling into everyday life and is starting to be used instead of oriental (inherent in the east). How was the concept of the Orientalist, used to describe everything that belonged to the East for the West, perceived and comprehended in the Ottoman Empire? Did Orientalism, which also began to be pronounced in the Ottoman Empire, (itself situated towards the east geographically), mean a concept imported from the west, or did the Empire create its own Orientalism? This study, titled "Oriental or Orientalist? A study of the Orientalist perception in the Ottoman Empire from the perspective of furniture", is aimed to question the Ottomans' approach to Orientalism and how they perceived this concept, and to study the representation of daily-used objects from a different perspective, particularly regarding furniture