[INDOLOGY] The so-called German Indology

Fri Jun 12 16:40:19 UTC 2015

<The accomplishments of German Indologists are clearly seminal, but that
doesn’t mean it’s not important to understand the intellectual, cultural
and historical circumstances that inevitably influenced what they wrote.>
I do not disagree with this. But this is true of some non-German
Indologists too. Was Maxmueller as an Indologist German? He viewed Buddhism
as a step towards Chrstianity. Macdonell did not pronounce so. But, as far
as I know, he did not say against this view.  But Keith distinguished
between our lord and their lord. I read these in student life and, hence,
cannot cite from the authors..But I could not avoid the impression that
chauvinism is universal,.not necessarily a German characteristic. Indian
Indologists too often take to self-aggrandizement. But the trend seems to
be on the wane since long. Deussen and Tucci were diifferent. So much so
good.
Best
Dipak Bhattacharya
.

On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 9:30 PM, George Hart <glhart at berkeley.edu> wrote:

> I have not read the book, only about 15 pages from what Amazon lets us
> see.  It seems obvious to me that the book needs to be taken seriously.  If
> scholars disagree vehemently with its method and conclusions, I hope they
> will read it and write a review.  My own impression (based on just a few
> pages) is that the book helps give perspective to the “science” of Indology
> — how it developed, what social and historical forces guided it, and
> perhaps some assumptions of modern scholars that are problematic.  I
> remember spending a year poring over Geldner, Grassman, and Oldenberg and
> being very impressed by their scholarship.  The accomplishments of German
> Indologists are clearly seminal, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important
> to understand the intellectual, cultural and historical circumstances that
> inevitably influenced what they wrote. George Hart
>
> On Jun 12, 2015, at 8:42 AM, Herman Tull <hermantull at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> My comment was written before I saw Reinhold's comment.  My original
> remark was less a matter of supporting ("acclamation") George Hart's
> remarks (which I do support), then it was a matter of drawing our attention
> to the fact that Americans have struggled with their academic heritage, and
> in particular, with the precise sense of "wissenschaftlich."
>
> On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 11:08 AM, Gruenendahl, Reinhold <
> gruenen at sub.uni-goettingen.de> wrote:
>
>>  I hope this is not to suggest that the matter should be decided by
>> acclamation. I merely asked Professor Hart to specify a point "that should
>> be seriously considered by indologists". My interest does not go beyond
>> that.
>>
>>
>> R.G.
>>
>>
>>
>>  ------------------------------
>> *Von:* INDOLOGY [indology-bounces at list.indology.info]" im Auftrag von
>> "Herman Tull [hermantull at gmail.com]
>> *Gesendet:* Freitag, 12. Juni 2015 16:59
>> *An:* Indology
>> *Betreff:* Re: [INDOLOGY] The so-called German Indology
>>
>>    I am reading the Adluri/Bagchee book right now; though not without
>> its problems, I have to agree with George Hart's assessment.
>>
>>  But, I will also say, as a student of religion (my graduate department
>> had the rather comprehensive and so, too, largely meaningless name,
>> "Department of the History and Literature of Religions"), Americans have
>> long struggled with the precise meaning of "wissenschaftlich."  The 19th
>> century American world was a direct descendent of the German academy, but
>> lacked its sophistication.  (Somewhere early in the JAOS I recall that the
>> reason given for the turn to Oriental studies was to "keep up with the
>> Joneses"--i.e., the Europeans; not much science there, I am afraid.)
>>
>>  cheers,
>>
>>  Herman Tull
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 10:27 AM, George Hart <glhart at berkeley.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> If you search the book at Amazon, you can read significant parts of it
>>> (“Look inside this book”). The authors are serious, well-read scholars and
>>> have put a colossal amount of work into their effort. The book strikes me
>>> as an important contribution whose ideas should be seriously considered by
>>> indologists. George Hart
>>>
>>>   On Jun 12, 2015, at 5:48 AM, Dominik Wujastyk <wujastyk at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>    On 12 June 2015 at 14:15, Philipp Maas <philipp.a.maas at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In reading these lines, I get quite puzzled. Are historical-critical
>>>> methods in general flawed, or only when practiced by Germans?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>  Only when practised by Germans, as any Italian would certainly answer
>>> :-)
>>>
>>>  
>>> (This refers to a running joke between some of us British, German and
>>> Italian philologists here at the Vienna department.)
>>>
>>> I suppose the Adluri & Bagchee book deserves a more serious response,
>>> but I'm not interested personally.  How did this get by the commissioning
>>> editor at OUP NY?
>>>
>>>  Best,
>>>  Dominik Wujastyk
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> *Herman Tull Princeton, NJ *
>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> *Herman TullPrinceton, NJ *
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