Het geïdealiseerde Oosten

Philip Zilckens reisverslag over Caïro (1915) in de context van oriëntalisme en imperialisme

Samenvatting

This article examines the 1915 travel account of Cairo by the Dutch artist Philip Zilcken, focusing on how he constructed an idealised and orientalist vision of ‘the East.’ Using close readings of both the text and the accompanying sketches, etchings and photographs, and situating Zilcken’s account alongside his cited sources and contemporary orientalist artists, the study demonstrates that Zilcken projected European aesthetic conventions onto Egyptian urban space. By prioritizing aestheticized, ‘Oriental’ motifs over contemporary urban realities, Zilcken reproduces a romanticized vision that aligns with what James R. Ryan calls the ‘domestication’ of foreign landscapes and with Edward Said’s critique of appropriation. Despite his stated aversion to European expansion, Zilcken’s representational choices conform to a decline narrative that implicitly legitimizes Western dominance. The study concludes that Zilcken’s travel writing and imagery are embedded in an orientalist framework and, albeit indirectly and ambivalently, contribute to the cultural legitimation of Western imperialism.