À propos du Divan de Goethe. La lumière vient de l'Orient

Denise Brahimi : On Goethe s Divan. The East-West Divan, a late work of Goethe's, prolongs his Enlightenment inspiration while around him there was developing a certain romanticism which exalted the irrational and associated poetry with darkness. Goethe adopts the Enlightenment criticism of Oriental despotism, the denunciation of pilgrimages and the Crusades and praise for travel as a means of gaining knowledge. In a Voltairian manner he contrasts the admirable deism of the Parsees to the deplorable excesses of Hinduism, and his sarcasm concerning Hinduism is often a mask for criticism of Christianity. He adopts the Parsees' natural religion and worship of the sun, source of all Enlightenment.Brahimi Denise. À propos du Divan de Goethe. La lumière vient de l'Orient. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°28, 1996. L'Orient. pp. 213-220