Aryan Idols: Indo-European Mythology as Ideology and ScienceCritically examining the discourse of Indo-European scholarship over the past two hundred years, Aryan Idols demonstrates how the interconnected concepts of “Indo-European” and “Aryan” as ethnic categories have been shaped by, and used for, various ideologies. Stefan Arvidsson traces the evolution of the Aryan idea through the nineteenth century—from its roots in Bible-based classifications and William Jones’s discovery of commonalities among Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek to its use by scholars in fields such as archaeology, anthropology, folklore, comparative religion, and history. Along the way, Arvidsson maps out the changing ways in which Aryans were imagined and relates such shifts to social, historical, and political processes. Considering the developments of the twentieth century, Arvidsson focuses on the adoption of Indo-European scholarship (or pseudoscholarship) by the Nazis and by Fascist Catholics. A wide-ranging discussion of the intellectual history of the past two centuries, Aryan Idols links the pervasive idea of the Indo-European people to major scientific, philosophical, and political developments of the times, while raising important questions about the nature of scholarship as well. |
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Common terms and phrases
According Action française Ahnenerbe ancestors ancient anti-Semitic archaeologists argued arische Aryan race Aryan religion Aryanist barbarians became belief Catholic Christianity claimed classification created cult cultural circle developed discussion divine Dumézil ethical Europe European evolutionist example existed F. M. Müller fact farmers French Friedrich Max Müller Georges Dumézil German Gimbutas gods Greek Günther Hamitic historians historiography history of religions Höfler homeland human humanistic Ibid idea ideals ideology Indian Indo Indo-European discourse Indo-European languages Indo-European mythology Indo-European religion Indo-Germans Indogermanen Indomania interpreted Iranian Jewish Jews Koppers liberal Lincoln linguistic male fellowships Männerbünde matriarchy Michelet modern modernistic monotheism myths nature mythologists Nazi Nazi research nineteenth century nomadic Nordic Nordic race Odin Oriental original home Pelasgian Poliakov primitive Proto-Indo-European race racial anthropology religious Renan Renfrew Rigveda rituals Roman Sanskrit Schlegel Schmidt scholars scholarship Schrader Schroeder Semitic society struggle texts theories tradition Vedic warriors Wikander word worship Wüst
References to this book
Genocide and Fascism: The Eliminationist Drive in Fascist Europe Aristotle A. Kallis No preview available - 2009 |