Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Exoticism
(2,649 words)

1. Concept

The substantive form “exoticism” has been found in the European languages only since the mid-19th century, for example in French since 1846 [9], but the adjective “exotic” (from the Greek exotikós, “foreign”) was used in the early modern period. Its first attestation is in François Rabelais' Quart Livre (1548), where it describes “various tapestries, animals, fishe…

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Lüsebrink, Hans-Jürgen and Siegert, Christine, “Exoticism”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_019038>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180126



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