Summary points:
Definition of Nation as an ‘imagined community’, by Benedict Anderson
Introduction:
According to Global Policy Forum, a nation can be defined as a bunch of people with a strong
and collective identity –‘an imagined community’-or a large scale tribe. Nationality is usually
based on shared culture, language, ethnicity or religion or can be based just on a collective
feeling of community. According to Ernest Renan, a nation is formed by historical events that
fuse communities together in terms of sacrifices, endeavors and devotion.
Benedict Anderson developed the idea of nation in a totally different way by calling it as a
‘imagined community’ in his book of the same title, written in 1983. He belongs to the
modernist school of nationalism and talks about the utopian elements in nationalist sentiments.
He takes up Edward Said’s notion of’ imagined geographies’ and analyses nation in terms of
social constructionist hypothetical argumentations. His essay deals with the newly risen
nationalism sentiments in the modern industrial era of Enlightenment in Europe. This came in
with print revolution. Capitalists used books and gazettes printed in vernacular that made people
belonging to a particular culture, language and social group cluster together under a common
identity and lead to the emergence of a common discourse. He argues that European nations were
primarily formed under such a common identified vernacular discourse. According to him, a
nation is a social construct built by the people who imagine themselves to be belonging to a large
collective group, which they call a nation. They may not know each other or their names but will
have a common interest and identity that enables them to be a part of the community. What they
have and is imposed on the national image is the mental image of affinity they have within them
and with other members of the group. For example, explaining it in simpler terms, during a
cricket match everyone in a country join hands for their nation’s success over the other,
regardless of impending political and religious disparities.
Paraphrase:
In the first Chapter Anderson begins with the issues related to the term ‘nationalism’. He starts
the essay in abrupt contrast by talking about wars and Marxist governments. He describes about
Definition of Nation as an ‘imagined community’, by Benedict Anderson
Introduction:
According to Global Policy Forum, a nation can be defined as a bunch of people with a strong
and collective identity –‘an imagined community’-or a large scale tribe. Nationality is usually
based on shared culture, language, ethnicity or religion or can be based just on a collective
feeling of community. According to Ernest Renan, a nation is formed by historical events that
fuse communities together in terms of sacrifices, endeavors and devotion.
Benedict Anderson developed the idea of nation in a totally different way by calling it as a
‘imagined community’ in his book of the same title, written in 1983. He belongs to the
modernist school of nationalism and talks about the utopian elements in nationalist sentiments.
He takes up Edward Said’s notion of’ imagined geographies’ and analyses nation in terms of
social constructionist hypothetical argumentations. His essay deals with the newly risen
nationalism sentiments in the modern industrial era of Enlightenment in Europe. This came in
with print revolution. Capitalists used books and gazettes printed in vernacular that made people
belonging to a particular culture, language and social group cluster together under a common
identity and lead to the emergence of a common discourse. He argues that European nations were
primarily formed under such a common identified vernacular discourse. According to him, a
nation is a social construct built by the people who imagine themselves to be belonging to a large
collective group, which they call a nation. They may not know each other or their names but will
have a common interest and identity that enables them to be a part of the community. What they
have and is imposed on the national image is the mental image of affinity they have within them
and with other members of the group. For example, explaining it in simpler terms, during a
cricket match everyone in a country join hands for their nation’s success over the other,
regardless of impending political and religious disparities.
Paraphrase:
In the first Chapter Anderson begins with the issues related to the term ‘nationalism’. He starts
the essay in abrupt contrast by talking about wars and Marxist governments. He describes about
