The discovery of Buddhism

The project focuses on the beginning and development of the scientific study of Buddhism, particularly in the 19^th century, and the public discourse on Buddhism. Consequently, Buddhism is not regarded as a primordial entity that was simply ‘discovered’, but rather as a historic discourse in which Buddhism was constituted and continually negotiated against the backdrop of a globalizing world and the realities of colonial encounters.

As the concept of ‘Buddhism’ emerged within that global and colonial context, it was connected to the debates about (world-)religions and thus to the (self-)representations of other religions and related topics. Our research group is particularly interested in the scientific reception of Buddhism and how European and Anglo-American scholars were not only part of a global discourse on Buddhism (as opposed to, for example, a ‘Western discovery’), but how their reception was simultaneously perceived as a catalyst for ‘Western’ self-conceptions (e.g., as ‘Western’, Christian, occidental [abendländisch] etc.).