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Nationalism and Literature (Introducing modern European Nationalism (1 .…
Nationalism and Literature
Introducing modern European Nationalism
2 . understanding the rise of modern Europenan nationalism
Ernest Renan, "What is a Nation"
comaring the nation to the empire : empire has vast territory and defined by its center; nation is small and defined by its boundaries
the national community is unified by specific material elements however they are not enough to explain national unity.
people's
consent
and their
belief
int he nation=> the true essence of the nation (spiritual attachement)
the nation is imagined as a living organism; its body is the people and its soul is their consent: if they stop believing in it, it will not last it will dissentegrate
a national idea should be maintained through double process; emphasising the past while focusing on the present. the past must always continue furnishing the consent of the people
Benedict Anderson,
Imagined Communities
the nation as a result of radical changes that took place in the modern age
relating the rise of M E nationalism to the fall of two preceeding systems:
the
religious community
(division of the relious unity into small separate countries+ the fall of the sared language and the rise of vernaculars as national languages)
the dynastic realm
(difference in the form of political power and territory)
political power in the dynastic realm is at the hands of the king who is divinely ordained by God,
territory in the dynastic realm is not limited, boundaries no demarcated + the emphasis on the center
in the nation state the power is derived from the consent of the people
territory in the nation is defines by borders, sovreignty related to boundaries
Anderson's central argument: nations are imagined communities
it lives through the minds of its members
based on the identification of its members with other distant and invisible members within the same community
the role played by nationalist ideology and discourse in shaping national consciousness
national unity is created, not natural
3 . nation and invention
Ernest Gellner,
Nations and Nationalism
national unity is something propagated through political and ideological discursive processes
duallity of ideology and material entity
nationalism: ideology that precedes the material entity
nation: material entity
Eric Hobsbawm,
The Invention of Tradition
nation-making is a political, cultural, social project based on processes of creation
based on artifact, invention, engineering
"nationalism comes before nations"
processes of creation on two levels
symbolic:
traditions, ceremonies, monuments, symbols
material:
gvt, economy, education, administrations
Hobsbowm identifies the educational system as a powerful basis for the creation of citizens (turning individuals into citizens)
1 . difficulty of theorizing the nation
the notion of the nation is very elusive: the concept is very difficult to theorize because of the compexity of the historical forces that lead to the rize of nations
there are contradictions in the ideology of nationalism => paradoxes
paradox 1: modernity vs antiquity
nation states are modern 18th C, it is created recently
on the level of nationalist discourse nation is refered to back to antiquity. DEEPLY ROOTED IN HISTORY
paradox 2: reality vs representation
reality: the nation is invented, fictive creation, constructed. actually the nation is composed of diverse groups who are unified sometimes by force, in many cases : a process of unification by wars
the nation is represented as natural: relatedness, blood ties kinship ties thereforeits unity is unquestionable
why does the ideology of nationalism have such an important impact on people? why does it have such an emotional power?
4 . the limits of nationalism
Timothy Brennan, "The National longing for Form"
nationalism is rooted in liberal ideology while being based on illiberal acts
Postcolonial nationalism