Ottoman decline freed orientalism to aid Enlightenment anti-Christian universalism

Evidence

Ottoman military and, many would say, cultural supremacy continued into the seventeenth century, with Europe weakened by the continuing Wars of Religion. However, in 1648 the Peace of Westphalia put an end to the latter, and in 1683 the failure of the Ottoman siege of Vienna ended the invincibility of the Ottomans. The representation of orientals as primarily “Turks” continued, but its nature changed, reflecting the new balance of power between Islam and Christendom. Orientalism remained a discourse deeply imbued with Christian concerns, and one that typically continued to construct the oriental as the enemy Other with whom one struggled and whom one now could hope to dominate. Yet with the threat of the “Turk” largely gone, orientalist discourse could at last be freed of some of the fear and loathing; indeed, it provided fuel for the new spirit of Enlightenment universalism and deism. These ideologies, critical of the political domination of the church, often presented elements of Islam and Judaism as desirable alternatives to a reactionary, dogmatic Christianity. In other words, in addition to its protoimperialist uses orientalism was also a vehicle for ideas that challenged the hegemony of dogmatic Christianity, and even of the sociopolitical order in general. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 111