From Buddhism to Bolshevism: Some Orientalist Themes in German Thought

Like other Western cultures, the German-speaking lands have a long tradition of fascination with the Orient. This essay explores, firstly, some of the different ways in which the East came to be seen as both a means of invigorating German culture and the epitome of decadence. The hopes and fears invested in the Orient were focused in particular on the issue of religion; the acutely felt desire for the rebirth of religious sentiment in the nineteenth century led many to demand either a return to the purity and primordiality of Eastern faiths or the purging of 'Oriental' features from western spirituality. Secondly, where existing accounts of German orientalism have highlighted eighteenth-century 'chinoiserie' or the Romantic affinity with Indian philosophy and literature, this essay seeks to demonstrate how German orientalism converged with anti-Semitism and the discourse of German national identity; how the language, concepts and prejudices of orientalism were not only deployed against the 'traditional' Oriental lands in the Middle and Far East, but also used to portray Russians and Jews as Oriental peoples.