Overview
- Traces the entanglement of Buddhism and Judaism in German culture from the turn of the century up to World War II
- Applies postcolonial theory to show the fluidity of and to underline the inherent hybridity of the German-Jewish self-understanding
- Highlights the forces of antisemitism that shaped the reception of Buddhism in German culture
- Appeals to scholars of Jewish Studies, Asian German Studies, Orientalism, and Postcolonial Studies
Part of the book series: Palgrave Series in Asian German Studies (PSAGR)
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About this book
In Germany at the turn of the century, Buddhism transformed from an obscure topic, of interest to only a few misfit scholars, into a cultural phenomenon. Many of the foremost authors of the period were profoundly influenced by this rapid rise of Buddhism—among them, some of the best-known names in the German-Jewish canon. Sebastian Musch excavates this neglected dimension of German-Jewish identity, drawing on philosophical treatises, novels, essays, diaries, and letters to trace the history of Jewish-Buddhist encounters up to the start of the Second World War. Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, Theodor Lessing, Jakob Wassermann, Walter Hasenclever, and Lion Feuchtwanger are featured alongside other, lesser known figures like Paul Cohen-Portheim and Walter Tausk. As Musch shows, when these thinkers wrote about Buddhism, they were also negotiating their own Jewishness.
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Keywords
Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“This is for scholarship to come, which will undoubtedly find, in addition to students, academics, and a wider audience thirsty to understand more about the phenomenon of Jewish Buddhists, great inspiration and solid material in these two pioneering publications.” (Mira Niculescu, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Vol. 28, 2021)
“The book contributes to the emerging field of Asian-German Studies and appeals to scholars of Jewish Studies, German Studies, Orientalism, and Postcolonial Studies.” (H-Net Reviews Humanities and Social Sciences, January 28, 2020)
“In this highly original and exciting study, Sebastian Musch calls attention to the German-Jewish fascination with Buddhism. His book is a superb work of scholarship that revises our conventional views of modern Jewish thought, Orientalism, and the importance of Buddhism for Europeans.” (Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College, USA)“This exciting new work sheds light on key German-Jewish writers interested in Buddhism, placing them well within existing Asian German, Orientalist, colonial, and postcolonial scholarship. It is a superb book, a welcome addition to the field of Asian German Studies, and an excellent way to gain familiarity with the field.”( Douglas T. McGetchin, Associate Professor of History, Florida Atlantic University, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Sebastian Musch is a research fellow in the Department of History at Osnabrück University, Germany.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Jewish Encounters with Buddhism in German Culture
Book Subtitle: Between Moses and Buddha, 1890–1940
Authors: Sebastian Musch
Series Title: Palgrave Series in Asian German Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27469-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-27468-9Published: 21 October 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-27471-9Published: 21 October 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-27469-6Published: 10 October 2019
Series ISSN: 2731-5657
Series E-ISSN: 2731-5665
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 289
Topics: History of Germany and Central Europe, Jewish Cultural Studies, World History, Global and Transnational History, Intellectual Studies, Comparative Religion