Indology, Indomania, and Orientalism: Ancient India's Rebirth in Modern Germany

289 Pages·2009·13.107 MB·English

by  Douglas T. Mcgetchin

Indology, Indomania,
and Orientalism
Ancient India’s Rebirth
in Modern Germany
Douglas T. McGetchin
Madison • Teaneck
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McGetchin, Douglas T.
Indology, Indomania, and orientalism: ancient India’s rebirth in modern
Germany / Douglas T. McGetchin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8386-4208-5 (alk. paper)
1. India—Study and teaching—Germany. 2. India—Civilization—To
1200. 3. Indologists—Germany—History. 4. Orientalism—Germany—
History. 5. Germany—Intellectual life. 6. Germany—Civilization—Indie
influences. 7. India-Foreign public opinion. 8. India—Relations—Germany.
9. Germany—Relations—India. 10. Public opinion—Germany—History.
I. Title.
DS435.8.M35 2009
934.0072'043—dc22 2009004743
Contents
List of Figures and Tables 7
Acknowledgments 9
List of Abbreviations 13
1. Introduction 17
2. A Comparison of Indology in England and France 31
3. A Foundation: Ancient India and the German
Cultural Sphere 55
4. The Study of Sanskrit in German Universities, 1818-1914 76
5. Reaching the Public 102
6. Indology and Buddhism in Fin-de-siecle Germany 120
7. An Indo-Germanic Connection? 141
8. Conclusion 168
Appendix: Glossary of Scholars 189
Notes 192
Bibliography 251
Index 278
5

Figures and Tables
Figures
Figure 1 The Expansion of Sanskrit Studies to German
Universities 81
Figure ^ Intellectual Geneology of Scholars at the
University of Berlin 82
Figure : Title Page, Wilfried Nölle, Impact of Indian
Thought on German Poets & Philosophers 173
Figure 1 Cover, Der Buddhist (April-June 1906) 174
Figure f “Des Buddha letzte Rede” von Eduard
Biedermann {Der Buddhist II. Jahrgang, No.
1, April-Juni 1906, inside front cover) 175
Tables
Table 1: Growth in full professorships in Berlin,
Leipzig, and Munich 89
Table 2: Faculty (all ranks) hired at the University of
Berlin, 1810-1914, ordered by relative size 90
Table 3: First founding of professorial chairs of
Sanskrit-related studies at German-speaking
universities, 1818-1914 93
7

Acknowledgments
T his work would have been much more difficult and less
enjoyable without the assistance of many people along the way. A
generous year-long dissertation research fellowship from the Deut­
sche Akademische Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange
Service) allowed me to do archival research in Germany. Professor
Dietmar Rothermund of the University of Heidelberg’s South Asia
Institute has generously offered encouragement and invaluable intro­
ductions to other scholars working on the history of German Indol-
ogy. With the support of Navin and Pratima Doshi, the conference
“The History of Indology and Comparative Philology in Germany,
1750-1958” at the University of California, Los Angeles (April 15,
2000) let me benefit from the enthusiasm and knowledge of Richard
Goldman, Sally Goldman, Hanco Jürgens, Frank Neubert, Hartmut
Scharfe, Peter K. J. Park, Damodar SarDesai, Indra SenGupta, and
Chen Tzoref-Aschkenazi. Sadly, this meeting was also the last public
appearance of the late Wilhelm Halbfass, whom I dearly wish could
have read this completed work, as his grasp of German Indology’s
history rivaled the encyclopedic knowledge of Ernst Windisch. Con­
ferences in New Delhi, Berlin, Harvard University, Heidelberg,
Toronto, and at the German Studies Association have added new
breadth to my work, thanks to the stimulating insights in conversa­
tions with Sugata Bose, Christopher Bayly, Sai Bhatawadekar, Joerg
Esleben, Tilman Frasch, Helga Halbfass, Roland Lardinois, Jürgen
Liitt, Kris Manjapra, Suzanne Marchand, Saverio Marchignoli, Claude
Markovits, Kamakshi Murti, Perry Myers, Ranjit Nair, Sjahari Pul-
lom, Pascale Rabault, Nicholas Germana, Brad Herling, Johannes
Voigt, Albrecht Wezler, representatives of the Max Mueller Bhavan,
and many others.
I also appreciate the advice and encouragement of my students and
colleagues at Florida Atlantic University, including Suman Basuroy,
Raksha Patel-Basuroy, Evan Bennett, Kristen Block, Michael Bocco,
Boyd Breslow, Sarah “Sallie” Brown, Graciella Cruz-Taura, Alana
Edwards, René Friedman, Steve Engle, Mary Faraci, Andrew Frank,
Barbara Ganson, Taylor Hagood, Eric Hanne, Ken Holloway, Doug
9
10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Kanter, Anna Lawrence, Ben Lowe, Sandy Norman, Ken Osgood,
Marianne Sanua, Mark Rose, Neil Santaniello, Patricia Killander, and
Derrick White.
My work has also benefited tremendously from co-editing Sanskrit
and “Orientalism”: Indology and Comparative Linguistics in Ger­
many, 1750-1958 (New Delhi: Manohar, 2004) with Peter Park and
Damodar SarDesai. The work of the other contributors to this Mano­
har volume has been very stimulating to the development of this
study. The friendly spirit of cooperation we have cultivated has
helped each of us develop our own projects, and we have been able to
benefit from each other’s expertise. Indra SenGupta has pursued
work closest to my own and her comments have been immensely
helpful. I am particularly grateful to Peter Park, whose tremendous
enthusiasm, encouragement, and leadership have made him a welcome
companion in Los Angeles, Germany, India, and cyberspace.
In Germany, my work improved with the guidance of Professor
Dr. Rudiger vom Bruch of Humboldt University and Celia Apple­
gate, Roger Chickering, Andreas Daum, and the other members of
the German Historical Institute’s Sixth Transatlantic Doctoral Semi­
nar. Dr. Maria Maria Schetelich and Frank Neubert of Leipzig
University’s Institut fiir Indologie und Zentralasienwissenschaften
provided crucial insights about Leipzig and larger issues of German
Indology. I am also indebted to the kind assistance provided by Das
Buddhistische Haus, Berlin-Frohnau and the indispensable, helpful
staff of the many archives I consulted, including William Massa, Jr. at
the Yale University Sterling Memorial Library. My thanks to the valu­
able criticisms on past drafts of this work by Dan Berenberg, Frank
Biess, Carolyn Bissonnette, Stanley Chodorow, Hanley Cocks, Rich­
ard Cohen, Roy D’Andrade, Suzanne Deffendall, Barnet Hartston,
Judith Hughes, Todd Kontje, John Hoon Lee, John Marino, Wendy
Maxon, Allan Mitchell, William Arctander O’Brien, Heian Park, Lau­
rel Plapp, Diana Reynolds, Natalie Ring, Henry Sanabria, Cynthia
Truant, Don Wallace, Angela Vergara, and Andrew Zimmerman. The
outstanding “precision and soul” of David Luft has helped to make
writing this work an intellectually stimulating and gratifying experi­
ence.
Earlier versions of parts of the introduction and portions of chap­
ters 4, 5, and 6 appeared as “Introduction,” chapter 8, “‘Into the
Centre of Sanskrit Study’: Ancient Indian Studies and German Cul­
ture in Berlin and Leipzig in the Nineteenth Century,” and chapter
13, “Wayward Disciples: Indology and Buddhism in fin-de-siecle
Germany” in the volume I co-edited with Peter K. J. Park and Damo­
dar SarDesai, Sanskrit and “Orientalism": Indology and Comparative
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11
Linguistics in Germany, 1750-1958, published in New Delhi by Ma-
nohar Publishers and Distributors in 2004. I gratefully acknowledge
the excellent editorial work Manohar provided and the kind permis­
sion from Manohar’s directors Ramesh and Ajay Jain to reprint these
portions here, bringing them up to date with recent developments in
the field.
The portion of chapter 3 on French oriental scholarship appeared
as “Wilting Florists: The Turbulent Early Decades of the Société Asia-
tique, 1822-1860” in the Journal of the History of Ideas in 2004 and I
gratefully acknowledge the kind permission from the University of
Pennsylvania Press to reprint it here.
I also wish to thank the director Harry Keyishian, Christine Retz,
Christina Baliki, and the other editors and anonymous readers at
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press who have helped to improve this
book. Raksha Patel-Basuroy earns special praise and appreciation for
designing the beautiful cover.
I am also grateful for the support of friends and family, including
Hy Lerner and Eveline S. Lerner, Marvin and MaryEllen Friesen,
Robert and Bow McGetchin, and Carié M. Pieters. For help in Ger­
many, thanks to Wendy and Robert Maxon, Sabine Gaßmann, Elisa­
beth Beagles, Kevin McAleer, and Rob and Nancy Willingham. I
especially want to express my deep appreciation to my wife Joy and
our daughters Anika and Malia for inspiring me every day with their
keen intelligence, good cheer, and love.