When classicists attack classics

RESEARCH INTO THE ANCIENT WORLD has a serious problem with imperialism. The best introduction to this subject is Rajiv Malhotra’s 2016 book The Battle for Sanskrit: Is Sanskrit Political or Sacred, Oppressive or Liberating, Dead or Alive? Malhotra, a devout Hindu, opposes the efforts of American university academics, and specifically “postmodern Orientalists”, to impose their secular values on ancient Hindu traditions and sacred literature. He regards such Americans as smug, passive-aggressive and laughably hypocritical. Malhotra claims that too many scholars have latterly been co-opted into academic projects that serve American imperial interests whilst helping various scholars assuage their sense of “white guilt”. Professionally insecure young people are easily talked into advancing their careers by spitting in the faces of their ancestors, and claiming that (for example) exploitation was built into the…