With works such as these, it is becoming clearer that the Theosophical
Movement had a certain social impact during the period of the two world wars and
historians are beginning to note the historical importance thereof.
There have
been some lively exchanges between Staudenmaier and anthroposophists and
a full-fledged work appeared a while ago:
Peter Staudenmaier Between Occultism and Nazism
Anthroposophy
and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era.
Leiden
and Boston: Brill, 2014. vii + 412 pp.
His knowledge of theosophical historical scholarship seems quite
thorough. His knowledge of Blavatsky seems cobbled together from secondary
sources. Page eleven has an acceptable analysis of her concept of spiritual
evolution but on page 12, there is an quick shift to Annie Besant’s
writings. Some would argue that there are considerable differences between the
two and that the period between 1895 and 1910 was a critical period when the shift
occurred. Unfortunately, Staudenmaier does not give an account of this issue. It is also unfortunate that there is such
little research on Franz Hartmann. (Presumably, these issues were not the focus of the book, as he has written elsewhere about all these points, such as Steiner's extensive reworking of Blavatsky's original concepts, so he presents all these points in a rather hyper-compressed first chapter). Overall, it seems a more tempered attitude toward Blavatsky than his earlier "Anthroposophy and Eco-Fascism".
https://brill.com/view/title/24927
https://brill.com/view/title/24927
Review by Stefan Arvidsson:
A critical
remark regarding Staudenmaier’s focus on “race” would be that he refrains from
providing a comprehensive portrait of Steiner’s esoteric ideas and worldview.
Such a picture, even one constructed quickly with broad strokes, would give the
reader an idea of the relative importance of the notion of race for Steiner’s
thinking, and it would also give the reader a hint about what other issues the
anthroposophical and the Nazi imaginations could attract or repel.
I might have
missed scholarly discussions along Hansson’s lines; in that case, I look forward
to taking part of them in the future.1 I also believe this to be an important
path to follow because the study of esotericism often tends to isolate itself
from the study of modern religion and culture in general; anthroposophy is of
course the perfect bridge between the obscure world of occultism and the
overarching intellectual and cultural history.
The
contemporary persona of anthroposophy as an internationalist, humanistic and
even “female” movement that experiments with different crops and “eurythmic” dances
actually brings anthroposophy back closer to (the persona of) the Theosophical
Society that Steiner and his allies disparaged and broke away from to craft a
purely Western mysticism on German soil.
1 The
editor kindly reminds me that Wouter Hanegraaff ’s New Age Religion:
Esotericism in the Mirror
of Secular Thought (Leiden: Brill, 1996) emphasizes the importance of Naturphilosophie for the rise of
modern esotericism, and furthermore informs me that this track is followed for the case of
Steiner in Helmut Zander, Anthroposophie in Deutschland: Theosophische
Weltanschauung und
gesellschaftliche Praxis, 1884–1945, 2 vols. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck
& Ruprecht, 2007) and in Egil Asprem,
The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse,
1900–1939
(Leiden: Brill, 2014).
correspondencesjournal.com/ojs/ojs/index.php/home/article/download/20/21
Review by Olav Hammer:
For anybody interested in the intersection between religion, race,
and politics, this book is a goldmine of information. The author has painstakingly
examined immense amounts of published and archival materials and shows how
anthroposophical race theories intersected in many and complex ways with
extreme right-wing ideologies.
Presumably, this article is a tacit response
to the reception of the Kurlander book:
The Nazis as occult masters? It’s a good story
but not history
Peter Staudenmaier – June 2017
The problem with this alluring image is not just that it is false.
The myth of Nazi occultism is more than an amusing curiosity, a testament to
the power of cinematic suggestion. It actively detracts from a historical
understanding of the very themes it highlights. It yields a distorted view of
Nazism and a distorted view of occultism. But it also offers an occasion for
critical reflection, a chance to see how we might make better sense of the
tangled history of occultism in the Nazi era. It might even help us to
understand Nazi evil and the not-so-hidden forces behind it.
Another recent historical study on Nazism and the Occult:
Revisiting the "Nazi Occult": Histories, Realities,
Legacies
Monica Black,
Eric Kurlander
Boydell &
Brewer, 2015 - Germany
- 297 pages
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