An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
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Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines (Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races, 1853–1855) is a
Expanding upon
Background
This article is part of Conservatism in France |
Gobineau was a
The book was dedicated to King George V of Hanover (1851–66), the last king of Hanover. In the dedication, Gobineau writes that he presents to His Majesty the fruits of his speculations and studies into the hidden causes of the "revolutions, bloody wars, and lawlessness" ("révolutions, guerres sanglantes, renversements de lois") of the age.
In a letter to Count Anton von Prokesch-Osten in 1856 he describes the book as based upon "a hatred for democracy and its weapon, the Revolution, which I satisfied by showing, in a variety of ways, where revolution and democracy come from and where they are going."[2]
Gobineau and the Bible
In Vol I, chapter 11, "Les différences ethniques sont permanentes" ("The ethnic differences are permanent"), Gobineau writes that "Adam is the originator of our white species" ("Adam soit l'auteur de notre espèce blanche"), and creatures not part of the white race are not part of that species. By this Gobineau refers to his division of humans into three main races: white, black, and yellow. The biblical division into
Translation
The German translation Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenrassen first appeared in 1897 and was translated by Ludwig Schemann, a member of the Bayreuth Circle and "one of the most important racial theorists of imperial and Weimar Germany".[5]
A new English-language version The Inequality of Human Races, translated by Adrian Collins, was published in Britain and the US in 1915 and remains the standard English-language version. It continues to be republished in the US.
Influence
Steven Kale argues that Gobineau's "influence on the development of racial theory has been exaggerated and his ideas have been routinely misconstrued".[6]
Gobineau's ideas found an audience in the United States and in German-speaking areas more so than in France, becoming the inspiration for a host of racial theories, for example those of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. "Gobineau was the first to theorize that race was the deciding factor in history and the precursors of Nazism repeated some of his ideas, but his principle arguments were either ignored, deformed, or taken out of context in German racial thought".[7]
German historian
Although cited by groups such as the
The book continued to influence the white supremacist movement in the United States in the early 21st century.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Moore, John H. (2008). Encyclopedia of race and racism (PDF). Thomson Gale, Macmillan Publishers. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022 – via University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
- ^ cited in Michael D. Biddiss Father of Racist Ideology: Social and Political Thought of Count Gobineau (1970) p514
- ^ Robert Bernasconi and Tommy L. Lott (editors) The Idea of Race Hackett Publishing Co(2000) p45
- ^ Lonnie A. Burnett Henry Hotze, Confederate Propagandist: Selected Writings on Revolution, Recognition, and Race The University of Alabama Press (2008) p5
- ^ Richard S. Levy (Editor) Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution ABC-CLIO Ltd (2005) p640
- S2CID 162478730.
- ^ a b Kale (2010) p. 60
- ISBN 0-15-602754-2.
- ISBN 9789681641993.
- ^ An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races, Section 'The Influence of Locality'
- ^ Berlet, Chip; Vysotsky, Stanislav (2006). "Overview of U.S. White Supremacist Groups". Journal of Political and Military Sociology. 34 (1): 14.
Bibliography
- Gobineau, Arthur (Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau) The Inequality of Human Races translated by Adrian Collins
- Gobineau, Arthur (Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau) The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races, with particular reference to their perspective influence in the civil and political history of mankind translated by Henry Hotze
- Gobineau, Arthur (Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau) Versuch Uber Die Ungleichheit Der Menschenracen translated by Ludwig Schemann
External links
- Essai sur l'Inegalite de Races Humaine in French at Google Books Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 4
- Versuch über die Ungleichheit der Menschenracen trans. by Ludwig Schemann at Google Books Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4
- The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races: With Particular Reference to Their Respective trans. by H. Hotz, with an Appendix by J. C. Nott