Max Muller and the theosophists or the other half of victorian orientalism

International audienceIt has become commonplace to consider orientalism as a particularly spectacularform of cultural imperialism. Edward Said's work dealt more specifically with theMiddle East (Said, 1978) but his theses were extended to India, especially by RonaldInden (1990). However, as David Ludden remarked, we must first clarify themeaning and the scope of the term “orientalism” (LUDDEN, 1994, pg. 252). Thisquestion is particularly important for the period I’m dealing with. Indeed, one of theremarkable features of Indian orientalism in the nineteenth and the early decades of thetwentieth century is that Edward Said’s definitions cannot account for it