Nesting Orientalisms is a concept introduced by Milica Bakić-Hayden, a visiting lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

. It is based on gradation of "Orients", i.e. otherness and primitiveness.

Background

Milica Bakić-Hayden based her concept on the ideas of historian Larry Wolff and Edward Said's

Edward Said

Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...

 Orientalism

Orientalism (book)

Orientalism is a book published in 1978 by Edward Said that has been highly influential and controversial in postcolonial studies and other fields. In the book, Said effectively redefined the term "Orientalism" to mean a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the...

.

The concept

This concept explains "a tendency of each region to view the cultures and religions to its South and East as more conservative and primitive". It explains how a group which creates the Orientalized other can also be the subject of Orientalization by another group, and so on. According to this concept Asia is more "east" or "other" than Eastern Europe. Within Eastern Europe the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 is perceived as most "eastern". Such hierarchy continues within the Balkans.

Nesting Balkanisms

In the case of the Balkans there are many rankings connected with this concept, which "play a significant role in . . . identity

Identity

-Philosophical topics:* Identity , also called sameness, is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable* Law of identity, principle of logic stating that an object is the same as itself...

 building [and proclaiming] a more prestigious position within a generally negatively assessed entity". Proclaiming one's European character was a tool in creating the pattern of "nesting orientalisms" in the Balkans.

Hence, Bulgarian historian Maria Todorova

Maria Todorova

Maria N. Todorova is a Bulgarian historian and philosopher who is best known for her application of Edward Said's notion of "Orientalism" to the Balkans. She is the daughter of former Bulgarian President Nikolai Todorov.-Career:...

 introduced the related concept of "nesting balkanisms". Todorova emphasized the importance of this concept in identity constructions, which in the case of the Balkans involve the dual perception of the Balkans as a part of Europe but also as in opposition, as the "darker side" of Europe.

Nesting Colonialisms

Another concept related to the concept of nesting orientalisms was introduced by Tanja Petrović, a Serbian

Serbs

The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

 anthropologist

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 from Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

: that of "nesting colonialisms", which is marked by parallels and analogies of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and the rest of the world, which are perceived as former colonial powers and former colonies. This concept provides members of European Union, no matter whether they had a colonial past or not, with a "pool" of discursive patterns used for exclusion of those who are outside the European Union.

Nesting Occidentalisms

Bulgarian intellectuals have modified the concept of Nesting Orientalisms into the reversed concept of Nesting Occidentalisms.

The concept of nesting occidentalisms is present in the 2006 mockumentary

Mockumentary

A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...

 Borat

Borat

Borat Sagdiyev is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen...

, which exploits foreign and domestic hierarchies of Americans

Americans

The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

.

Further reading

• "Nesting Balkanisms among Dalmatian and Istrian Croats in the 1990s" at the Special Convention "Nationalism, Identity and Regional Cooperation: Compatibilities and Incompatibilities" Centro per l'Europa centro orientale e balcanica in association with ASN Bologna University Forli, Italy (4–9 June 2002)