An analysis of Benedict Anderson's Imagined communities
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
An analysis of Benedict Anderson's Imagined communities
（The Macat library）
Routledge, c2017
- : pbk
- : hbk
- Other Title
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A Macat analysis of Benedict Anderson's Imagined communities
A Macat analysis : Benedict Anderson's Imagined communities
Imagined communities
Available at 12 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Benedict Anderson's 1983 masterpiece Imagined Communities is a ground-breaking analysis of the origins and meanings of "nations" and "nationalism".
A book that helped reshape the field of nationalism studies, Imagined Communities also shows the critical thinking skills of interpretation and analysis working at their highest levels. One crucial aspect of Anderson's work involves the apparently simple act of defining precisely what we mean when we say 'nation' or 'nationalism' - an interpretative step that is vital to the analysis he proceeds to carry out. For Anderson, it is clear that nations are not 'natural;' as historians and anthropologists are well aware, nations as we understand them are a relatively modern phenomenon, dating back only as far as around 1500. But if this is the case, how can we agree what a 'nation' is? Anderson's proposed definition is that they are "imagined communities" - comprising groups of people who regard themselves as belonging to the same community, even if they have never met, and have nothing in common otherwise.
The analysis that follows from this insight is all about examining and breaking down the historical processes that helped foster these communities - above all the birth of printing, and the development of capitalism. Brilliantly incisive, Anderson's analysis shows how good interpretative skills can form the foundations for compelling and original insight.
Table of Contents
Ways in to the Text Who was Benedict Anderson? What does Imagined Communities Say? Why does Imagined Communities Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited
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