Write an essay on either of these two topics in about 800-1200 words. You have to submit this assignment by 23.59, on 18 Sept 2020. Please note that no extension request will be entertained as this assignment is being collected three days late from the schedule.

1. The United States of America and Canada are both countries which can be classified as Civic Nationalist, where both have their origin in the same context: British Colonialism and White Settler (Creole) Nationalism. Similarly, Pakistan and Bangladesh can both be classified as Ethnic Nationalist countries, with both having a similar origin in British Indian colonialism and foregrounding religion and language as nationalist markers. Why did the USA and Canada emerge as distinct nations, just as why did Pakistan and Bangladesh appear as different nations, despite similar origins? Can the theories of civic and ethnic nationalism explain them? What about the insights provided by E.H. Carr? Finally, which particular aspect of Benedict Anderson’s theory explains this distinction/division between these pairs?
2. Which of these two ideas take explanatory primacy in explaining the rise of official and colonial nationalisms: the concept of bounded, border contained journeys, or the idea of print-capitalism combined with school education?

Note: Please use the internet to get information about the countries, examples used. However, please provide clear references.

Final Submission: 21/25

Big Outline

Introduction

• For the purpose of deciding the primacy of explanatory ideas, we’ll be using Anderson [-@anderson_imagined_2006]
• I’ll be trying to explain why print capitalism combined with school education takes explanatory primacy.
• To strengthen the argument, it’s also important to realise that it’s specifically these two (shared journeys, print capitalism) that enable the rise of nationalisms. Nationalist sentiments don’t materialise simply among those sharing a common language, and in fact having the same language is not even a necessity.

Lessons from Creole and European Linguistic Nationalism

• Why it isn’t about Language:
  • [@nairn_break-up_2003] talks of ‘the masses’ being ‘invited into history’ by middle-class intelligentsia, only possible through a language they (the masses) understood; laying a framework for linguistic nationalism. But no explanation is given for the popularity of the idea, unless as Anderson says we “turn finally to piracy” ¹
  • As we see from the chapter on creole nationalism, a common language did not unify the Latin American nations, and neither did the lack of one separate the multiple ethnicities rallying under the flag of a nation ².
• A strong case for print primacy over the shared journey:
  • Anderson points out that in Madrid-controlled America, the shared journey had existed for almost three centuries ³. He raises two factors used to explain the sudden rise of nationalism: the tightening of Madrid’s control, and “the spread of liberalizing ideas of the Enlightenment”. The latter is only possible in an environment of print capitalism - even though it had not yet “reached these illiterates”, it (in the form of serialised newspapers) allowed the imagination of others in a shared time-space in the first place, making it a prerequisite for the shared journey to be realised and thus actualised in the first place.
  • For the rest of this, we will be taking (theory and) examples from the latter two stages, Official Nationalism and Colonial Nationalism, to demonstrate that this prerequisite nature applies across the board.

Examining Official Nationalisms

• Official nationalisms aren’t a bottom-up movement in themselves, but an attempt by the existing State to retain its power by co-opting 19th Century Europe’s linguistic nationalism. ⁴ As a result of such, their explanation is founded in that of the previous phase. So we need to show primacy of print capitalism in Linguistic nationalism.

• The middle class’ rise as the literate bourgeoisie imagining fraternity within limitations of mutual intelligibility is key to European linguistic nationalism [@anderson_imagined_2006, pp. 77-78], however print capitalism did exist in Europe for quite a bit before nationalist sentiments finally came to light ⁵ . So one may assume it is not the primary.

  However:

  • First, that you could not have “common journeys” that would split Europe the way the Americas were. Bureaucracy births common journey, and pre-national Europe has no common person’s bureaucracy. The ruling class is more a large family of interconnected second and third cousins ⁶ so they are not thinking in terms of nations. In feudal conditions too, power is hereditary and passed on by death ⁷
  • This is not to say it doesn’t have a part. Separate bureaucracies allow for a common journeys among “countrymen” distinct from that of another, serving to strengthen the national bonds, but the existence of said bureaucracies has to be preceded by print capitalism creating the awareness of nations and distinction in the first place.
• In addition, print is necessary for realisation of “non-divinity” of languages,
  giving rise to the identification of languages with their native speakers. Growth of comparative history, [^andcomp]
• Official nationalism is also where we begin to see the impact of a State monopoly on Education. Prominent examples being of course, Russification and Macaulayism. A formal study of requiring nationalism to be a dual-pronged approach was studied by Hobsbawn much after, ⁸ , but the idea is simple - educate the masses with a common language that allows them to see whatever has been defined for them as the Nation-state, along with the opportunity to participate in government. In colonial nations this allows a new kind of shared journey to arise, which we will discuss in a minute.
• All in all, the lesson from creole nationalism: print capitalism allows for the widespread vernacular usage as languages of print which allows for conception of a “native” land which allows for viewing language boundaries as boundaries which now makes older state powers co-opt the language into their state usage.

Examining Colonial Nationalisms

A significant display of border-contained journeys

• Scotland that does not show nationalist sentiment, versus Ireland. ⁹
• Cambodia from Vietnam, limitation on the Khmer and Lao.
• India, Bipin Chandra Pal. [@pal_memories_1932 pp. 329]
• Indonesia does not split apart, despite federalist policy ¹⁰
• Point still is that for these conditions to arise something else needs to happen.

State-monopoly on Education

• Natives getting into administrative positions only to be limited by boundaries and sharing a common goal cannot happen when they aren’t educated by the State to fill roles in government in the first place.
• Indonesia: schools providing regulated gradations by age groups, a shared journey from the villages to the town centers. ¹⁰
• Can be seen in India too.

Print Capitalism’s necessity and role beyond

• Of course, that ^ can’t happen without print capitalism.
• Newspapers as manifestation, allowing the growth of vernacular. ¹¹
• Newspapers in India and Pakistan. ¹²
• Interestingly: India here imagined by the administrative limits and the common language english, not like European nationalisms. In part due to ease of communication and information spread, too. Physical mobility.

lifting the ideas of nations and nationalism from those who have already done so and written it down as a model to use. It is something only possible when there is a system of print capitalism in place.

as a response by power groups. We can also refer to @seton-watson_nations_1977 [pp. 147] which refers to Kaisertreue (loyalty to the emperor) as the essential requirement over the concept of nationality.

the mid-15th century, but it is not until printing goes beyond reprints of the Bible that we can assume “Print Capitalism” to have begun in Europe, which would then place it in the early 16th century.

royality ruling over Great Britain and Ireland.

[-@anderson_imagined_2006] to highlight the consideration of comparative study in the linguistic field of study.

“no barricades” in possible paths to the centre (England), compares to those in the Thirteen Colonies, or even Ireland.

Spanish-controlled America in [-@anderson_imagined_2006 pp. 61-63] through newspapers

National Independence movement.

Thin Outline

• Introduction:
  • What isn’t: language, uniformity of language.
  • Will specifically be one of those two, and here I think it will be print capitalism.
• Motivating with some context on Anderson’s words on these with respect to Creole nationalism and Beginnings of European national “awakening”:
  • First, why it isn’t about just having same languages. Europe had common vernacular amongst peasantry long before.
  • Second, having same language is not a prerequisite for the nation. Early stage Latin America. There’s some shared journey here.
  • Third, on why it’s print: Anderson commented on this, wrt Creole nationalism - the shared journey exists for quite a while before the revolution(s).
  • Finally, idea of the “memory of print” that we will use.
• Now, we move on to examples
• ????

Points

• So official nationalism is a reactionary response to european awakening.
• Monarchs adopting the nationalist garb to maintain power.
• Official nationalism is as border-contained as European nationalism is, hence by language.
• Attempt to maintain political power by co-opting the linguistic national movements
• Under a common bureaucracy, journeys converge to be largely the same.
• It has to be preceded by Print Capitalism to set the structures in place first.
• Without print capitalism, there is no separation of administrative units. The monarchs are all interrelated via marriage, and no scope for vertical growth exists. In the feudal case, the heirs ascend via death. No common journey. Trade with each other is possible, so it’s not unusual to move about. Consider Victoria, Queen of “England”. Essentially, no common journeys separating the common folk across Europe. Even when as colonisers, they are the colonisers - those native to the land are capable of moving about as they please.
• Print capitalism allows for ideas of plurality, extra-European antiquity.

• A kinship separated by language that allows.

• Colonial and border-contained journeys: yes. See Scotland, vs all of British colonies, japanese colonies, etc. Borders as a source of resentment.
• A newspaper informing of events and allowing for dead time required to imagine the journey. Else you have the loneliness, but no apparent companionship.
• School system introduces another journey, from the villages through towns up to the apex at the cities.
• Indonesia being preserved through a common schooling.
• India and pakistan, common journeys and vernacular media split

@anderson_imagined_2006 says hi

@

• @pal_memories_1932, pp 329: “forced to cut myself off from the orthodox Hindu communion”
• @pal_memories_1932, pp 409: comparison to creoles

References