Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson

Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson

Chapter one the introduction, Anderson emphasizes the meaning of an imagined community. (pg 6) A community that builds an identity off the belief that others feel the same way they do about their nation. This community understands that they belong to their nation’s contingency and therefore having assurance of a common ground with one another.

Chapter two discusses how religion and monarchy creditability is questioned with the new changes of time. Religion was supposed to be the answers to all questions about life and the future. However, with the change in the thinking and language among many people, religion and language started to become altered to fit the new way of life and everyone started to be accepted into a community. (pg 22) Being a member of a religious group or being a privileged person was no longer a qualification to understand the importance of having a community, being able to read and communicate through print was the new qualification.

Chapter three explains how capitalism helped with the growth of a national consciousness. (pg 39) Capitalism help expand the book market, allowing many people to get a hold of scripture that would have been only available to the elite. There was a common ground among the elite and the regular people because the same type of knowledge was now being shared. This shared knowledge allowed to build a national consciousness of what was occurring in their nation.

Chapter four focuses on the development of Creole pioneers and the development of a nation-ness before other nations. (pg 50) Creole pioneers under Spanish control were able to still build a sense of togetherness. These people were all ruled in the same way in which they were able to identify as one at an early stage.

Chapter five goes on to discuss how the idea of “new nationalisms” were different in both that the national print languages were of central ideological and political importance and that all were able to work using the models that were provided by their distant and not so distant ancestors. (pg 67) Before the Vernacular print became important to the formation of class, the solidarities were the results of friendships, family ties, and business relations.

Chapter six further details the official nationalism and imperialism from the mid 19th century where they were starting to exclude threatened power groups from the more popular countries. (pg 83) The representation of the official nationalism was followed by the ruling classes who felt seriously threatened by the increasing spread of nationally imagined communities.

Chapter seven explains