"Orient" is a Latin word means "east". When I searched Orientalism on Google, I found two definitions that I thought were pretty much clear and simple: a) it's a way of seeing that imagines, emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab and Muslim peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S. b) it's the study of Near and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, and peoples by Western scholars, writers, designers, and artists.
Thus, Orientalism is a reflection of the views of Western European, who were influenced by the attitudes of the era of European imperialism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, upon the East. Thier views of the "East" are not necessarily the views of the inhabitants of these areas and it often involves seeing Arab and Muslim culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized, and dangerous. It hardly captures the wide swath of territory to which it originally referred: the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, which are distinct, contrasting, and yet interconnected regions, allowing frequent misunderstanding of cultural, ethical, and religious beliefs.
