German Orientalism reproduced colonial logic without needing actual colonies

Evidence

That Germany “did not have colonies” (partially incorrect) is an argument that bolsters my thesis to the effect that, irrespective of varied forms of colonialism, modern structures of thought operated in principle in the same way wherever they were to be found. That German Orientalism behaved differently before the Third Reich—arguing for Asian rather than Judeo-Christians origins of Germania and Europa—is no less damning, in the sense that certain components of it exhibited anti-Semitism while others were “enrolled in a highly significant revision of German rhetoric about identity formation, both individual and cultural.” — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 534

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: ‘Colonialism without colonies’ — how landlocked German Orientalism fabricated an internal Other, challenging the assumption that empire’s epistemology requires actual territorial conquest. A comparative essay could set this against settler-colonial and maritime-colonial variants.