German orientalism in the age of empire: religion, race, and scholarship

TLDR

19th‑century orient studies reshaped European ideas, fueling empire building and challenging the narrow Christian‑classical canon. This work offers the first comprehensive, contextualized study of German Orientalistik, highlighting its pioneering role between 1830 and 1930. The authors trace German Orientalistik’s roots to Renaissance philology and biblical exegesis, situating it within 19th‑20th‑century debates on religion, education, and Germanic origins, and charting its key figures and controversies.

Abstract

Nineteenth-century studies of the Orient changed European ideas and cultural institutions in more ways than we usually recognise. 'Orientalism' certainly contributed to European empire-building, but it also helped to destroy a narrow Christian-classical canon.This book provides the first synthetic and contextualised study of German Orientalistik, a subject of special interest because German scholars were the pace-setters in oriental studies between about 1830 and 1930, despite entering the colonial race late and exiting it early.The book suggests that we must take seriously German orientalism's origins in Renaissance philology and early modern biblical exegesis and appreciate its modern development in the context of nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century debates about religion and the Bible, classical schooling, and Germanic origins.Introduces readers to a host of iconoclastic characters and forgotten debates, seeking to demonstrate both the richness of this intriguing field and its indebtedness to the cultural world in which it evolved.1. Orientalism and the longue duree ; 2. Orientalism in a Philhellenic age; 3. The lonely orientalists; 4. The second oriental renaissance; 5.The furor orientalis ; 6. Towards an oriental Christianity; 7. On Aryans and Semites; 8. Orientalism and imperialism; 9.The study of oriental arts; 10.Relations with others: the Great War and after; Epilogue; Bibliography.