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Christopher Hutton's new book explores the links between linguistics, nationalism and racism

What is it about?

The piece critically reviews Christopher Hutton's book "The People That Never Were: Linguistic Scholarship and the Invention of the Aryans" (2025).

Why is it important?

Professor Hutton's scholarship in the last two decades has significantly contributed to understanding of Nazi "Aryanism". Importanyl, it proposed a radical thesis about modern linguistics as being at the heart of the 19th century mode racist thinking that Nazis only developed. However, I suggest that this book does not yet prove this thesis. I highlight some weak spots in Hutton's approach and argumentation, especially deconstructivist fallacies, which assume that only because something was "invented", it must be deemed false.

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Vuk Vukotić
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