Exoticism Versus Globalization
A couple of days ago, I noticed while watching a Kylie Kwong cookery show, that she used the word “exotic” no less than four times in the space of ten minutes. She was discussing a certain Middle Eastern spice mix being used in a dish she was preparing for that episode.
What is exotic? The relevant definitions from dictionary.com include:
- of foreign origin or character; not native; introduced from abroad, but not fully naturalized or acclimatized
- strikingly unusual or strange in effect or appearance
Whereupon, the question arises: foreign, strange, not fully naturalized or unusual from whose perspective? Kylie’s shows, I imagine, are made primarily for a Western audience (Australia, U.S) to whom Middle Eastern cooking and its ingredients are likely to be strange and unusual. Hence, the use of the word, exotic.
However, with global movements and globalization, things aren’t quite so simple anymore. The U.S, for instance, is a community of immigrants, and new immigrants, including those from North Africa and the Middle East keep entering. Is harissa or tahini exotic to them?
People travel, meet new people, eat new foods. Global food chains and import businesses ensure that foods from one part of the world are well-stocked in another. Even if you don’t travel and are finicky about trying new foods when you do, television brings new experiences to your armchair.
Once upon a time, exotic and new were framed purely from the viewpoint of Western societies. This is a key thrust of the seminal work, Orientalism, by Edward Said:Â The Orient exists for the West, and is constructed by and in relation to the West. It is a mirror image of what is inferior and alien (”Other”) to the West.
What is worse, perhaps, Western views of what is different or exotic soon become the norm. For instance, I often see Indian clothing or practices like Mehndi being described in our magazines as ethnic. Again, the dictionary meaning of ethnic is pertaining to or characteristic of a people, esp. a group (ethnic group) sharing a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like. Why would we apply this term when talking about our own cultural groups, i.e. setting them up against a ‘normal’ ‘other’? Besides, it doesn’t really describe the clothing in any way.
The question to be asked is, how will globalization and global movements impact exotification? If Kylie Kwong’s programmes are going to be popular in Australia and the US and India and in the Middle East - from whose perspective are ingredients going to be classified as exotic, or not?
It’s a well-known fact that he who pays the piper calls the tune. For generations, books, magazines, TV programmes, films - all of these transmitters of culture were made by and for the West. With large audiences now coming up in other parts of the world, will this change?
I have watched this show and I noticed too many a times that she uses stuff which she says is typical in a eastern household but ‘exotic’..
I agree!
Even our very own cookery shows, which talk about a cuisine from a different state use the terms - “exotic spices” and “ethnic look”
How appropriate it is, is altogether a different question!
I do hope that this trend does change though!
See, people will always find things from other cultures ‘exotic’…I find certain foods eaten in say, Tamil Nadu exotic even though I’m an Indian…Why? Because I’m not familiar with them…Similarly, Tamilians may find Bengali foods and spices exotic…Kylie Kwong will find things like turmeric and cumin exotic simply because she’s Chinese Australian and these spices are not what she cooks with regularly or a part of her culture even though there are thousands of Indians in her country…People usually stick to the culture they are originally from even though they live in a different country…
Even though I may be familiar with something, it may still remain exotic to me…
I think “exotic’ and ‘ethnic’ are no longer used in their strict dictionary sense. Exotic applies to anything that is not from their own culture and ethnic to anything that belongs to a particular culture. In this sense even sari is referred to as ethnic clothing by many young people in this country itself! And I have often be asked “what is the occasion today?’ when I wear a sari!
Thanks all for your comments. I think there are 2 parts to this thing - one, that there will always be an unfamiliar or ‘exotic’ zone, as some of you have pointed out. My contention is that globalization is shrinking this zone.
Two, what is “commonly” seen as exotic has usually been from the Point of view of Western eyes. Which is why, as Usha-ji says, people refer to the sari as ‘ethnic’. Here, my guess is that more and more media content will start getting produced from other POVs.