The identities of European nations were built by 19th and 20th century intellectuals. By defining seminal events, national symbols, and heroes, they transformed what had been kingdoms and subjects into nations and citizens. Education reform, literature, monuments and statues, museums, and international expositions contributed to the shaping of these nations' modern histories and traditions.
References
1.
AndersonBenedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.New York: Verso, 1983. An important study of how nations are constructed, covering America and the Third World as well as Europe.
2.
GellnerErnest. Nations and Nationalism.Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983. Anthropological study of how nation-building involves cultural homogenization.
3.
HobsbawmEric. Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Program, Myth, Reality.New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. A noted political and social historian describes varieties of nationalisms and their historical consequences.
4.
HobsbawmEricRangerTerence (eds.). The Invention of Tradition.New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983. The title of this book has become a common phrase to describe how community identities are constructed by inventing customs; includes several studies of supposedly centuries-old traditions.
5.
RenanErnest. Qu'est-ce qu'une Nation?: Conference Faite en Sorbonne, le 11 mars 1882.Paris: Calmann Levy, 1882. In the midst of arguments about who should control Alsatia, a French intellectual challenged German ideas about national identity.
6.
SmithAnthony D.National Identity.Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1994. Stresses the leading role played by artists and writers in the cultural process of nation-building.
