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Secular nationhood? The importance of language in the life of nations
Author(s) -
BLATTBERG CHARLES
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2006.00263.x
Subject(s) - creativity , interpretation (philosophy) , argument (complex analysis) , politics , neglect , epistemology , sociology , political science , law , linguistics , philosophy , psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , psychiatry
. Because of their failure to distinguish enough between interpretation and creation, scholars of nationhood have tended to neglect the role of creativity in both the genesis and persistence of national communities. Giving creativity its due leads us to question the standard conception of nations, and of the states that recognise them, as secular. This, in turn, suggests that we need to interpret the significance that language has for nationalists in a new way. After showing how, the paper concludes with an argument about what this new interpretation should mean for language politics.