Orientalism is not an airy European fantasy about the Orient, but a created body of theory and practice in which there has been a considerable material invest-ment The relationship between Occident and Orient is a relationship of power, of domination, of varying degrees of a complex hegemony 1111 Orientalism,  is not an airy European fantasy about the Orient, but a created body of theory and practice in which, there has been a considerable material invest-ment.  The relationship between Occident and Orient is a relationship of power, of domination, of varying degrees of a complex hegemony