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The Oriental Other: Anti-Mormon Rhetoric and the Orientalization of Polygamy in Nineteenth-Century America
Abstract
Abstract: This paper examines how anti-Mormon activists in nineteenth-century America strategically employed orientalist rhetoric to delegitimize Mormon polygamy and the broader Mormon movement. Drawing upon Edward Said’s theoretical framework of Orientalism, the analysis demonstrates how critics deliberately characterized Mormon practices, particularly plural marriage, as fundamentally “oriental” and therefore incompatible with American values. By associating Mormonism with Eastern customs and traditions, such as Turkish harems and Islamic practices, anti-Mormon writers tapped into existing American anxieties about Asian influences and potential cultural infiltration due to immigration. This rhetoric proved particularly effective as it operated simultaneously on religious, racial, and political levels, justifying federal intervention while reinforcing Protestant cultural hegemony. The paper analyzes period literature, legal documents, political cartoons, and public discourse to show how the orientalization of Mormonism intersected with broader nineteenth-century concerns about immigration, women’s rights, and national identity. Anti-Mormon activists successfully deployed feminist rhetoric about Eastern female oppression while courts and legislators cited polygamy’s “Asiatic” nature as signs of despotism, irreconcilable with American democracy. Understanding this historical process of othering provides crucial insights into how Western societies construct and manage perceived threats to cultural hegemony. The case of Mormon orientalization illuminates enduring patterns in American responses to religious and cultural differences, with notable parallels to contemporary discourse surrounding religious minorities and immigration. This research reveals how orientalist discourse shaped both popular sentiment and institutional action against religious minorities in nineteenth-century America, establishing patterns of cultural exclusion that continue to influence American society today.