"Hinduism" From a Western Perspective and What it Encompasses

what extent is ‘Hinduism’ an Orientalist concept?

It has been argued in recent academic works such as that by Heinrich von Stietencron that the modern notion of ‘Hinduism’ as a singular, unified ancient world religion is a myth. These academics claim that it is nineteenth-century Western construct by Orientalist scholars inspired by their Judaeo-Christian presuppositions of what a religion ‘should’ be. Yet, this view is rather limited in that it fails to recognise the part played by indigenous Indians in the development of modern ‘Hinduism’. It is wrong to put almost exclusive emphasis on the role of Western Orientalists because, as Richard King noted, it “erases the colonial subject from history and perpetuates the view of the passive Oriental.” This essay will endeavour to answer how far the modern world religion that we today identify as ‘Hinduism’ is merely a construct of nineteenth century ‘Orientalism’ and whether ‘Hinduism’ is a term that should continue to be used in contemporary scholarship.

In the much celebrated Orientalism (1978), Edward Said challenged the notion of an inherent difference between East and West. He writes of this being established at the start of colonisation by Europeans as a way to define themselves as a superior, more civilised race and thus justify their actions against the indigenous societies. He describes the ‘Orient’ or the East as being therefore represented and studied according to how Westerners perceived it in the nineteenth century and in doing so, Asian culture, including religion, was inevitably shaped and developed by this ‘orientalising of the orient’. However, Said’s work is to some extent flawed, particularly in that he does not acknowledge the ways in which indigenous societ...

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...al features of “Orientalism” such as the spirituality and mysticism of India have been embraced by natives of the “Orient” as positive and aided the construction of an indigenous national identity. The singular, unitary modern world religion known as “Hinduism”, while originally constructed in the most part by Western scholars, is arguably not merely an “Orientalist concept”. This view, advocated by von Stietencron is flawed in that it fails to recognise the development of the “religion” and its associated culture since the nineteenth century. While it is doubtful that an “essence” of “Hinduism” exists, to reduce the religion to a being a “Western construct” in the twenty-first century is to deny the Indian people who label themselves as being “Hindu’s” the opportunity to value and develop their own national culture, albeit still influenced by their colonial past.