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

Marchand's impressively well-researched and -written book offers the first comprehensive and historical study of German Orientalist scholarship. Because Germany's imperial presence in India, China, and the Muslim world was seen as short-lived and insignificant compared to other European empires, the study of German Orientalism has not been given adequate attention. However, German scholars of the Orient between the 1830s and 1930s produced some of the most influential writings on their topics, shaping the academic study of the Orient in the rest of Europe and beyond. Marchand (Louisiana State Univ.) successfully demonstrates that humanism has as much to do with Orientalism as empire building, and these two should not be seen as contradictory influences. The author discusses how German scholarship on the Orient helped overcome narrow perspectives limited to and inherited from a Christian-classical cannon, thus contributing to global humanistic and internationalist thought. Marchand presents the most complex, balanced, yet nuanced view of academic debates on the politics of Western scholarship on non-Western societies since the publication of Edward Said's influential Orientalism (CH, Apr'79) more 30 years ago. Indispensable for European intellectual history and the history of European expansion, as well as for methodological courses on Islamic, Jewish, religious, and biblical studies. A must for all graduate students, faculty, and general readers. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. C. Aydin George Mason University