Nationalism by Vernacularization
Nationalism by Vernacularization
After finding that this book was a little hard to read at times it had some important concepts to think about. I realized that nationalism is connected to languages that are more popular than others. And this is really something to think about in more areas of life than one. Unity even if it’s an imagined one is usually formed and connected by language whether that language is printed or spoken. Yet even when the same language is spoken many times it’s understood different by different people. The one unifying thing is that what is being said has national or worldwide acceptance and that is a powerful medium. While reading how languages got accepted and how they connected the world and connected people, I began to really understand how nations became so powerful and eventually imaged communities.
Benedict Anderson described the imagined community in an anthropological spirit as this, “it is an imagined political community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.”[1] I can understand his reasoning on this because the nation does not have to know everyone in it. Its an inherent knowing and since of belonging. And politically we adhere to the same rules and laws no matter where we are. Knowing the language and being able to understand the “national print language” connects this sense of nationalism. These concepts really got me to thinking about how we view people who are not citizens of the U.S. Most people don’t realize that after a certain time in being in this country whether they are documented of not, they feel a sense of nationalism because of the adaption of the culture, language and that imagined sense of community. What makes us community and a nation is not seen all the time. Even in the U.S. there are nationalities that are legally here but are treated unjustly because of their race or national origin. But that common bond of our culture and language binds us together as a nation whether we are from here originally or not. As Benedict so greatly explained many of the most powerful countries now did not start that way. They evolved over time by their ability to communicate through writing and publishing on a great level. And these countries became popular as their language and communication around the world did. This made me think about our country and how we treat each other and the United States was once not a world power or even a nation. It just goes to show you that any country can evolve at the right time and with the right type of communication in any age. The United States is no different than any other nations in that the U.S. is make up of other people from other countries that have adopted a popular language.
The vernaculariztion of the world now is so incredible because of social media and the Internet. You don’t even have to know the dominant language now. You can just Google it and you can get information of that language.
I still don’t feel that I am apart of every country or nation but I do feel a sense of belonging to a certain degree because we can communicate across the world. Imagine that?
[1] Anderson, Benedict. “Pg. 31.” Imagined Communities Reflection on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. New York: Verso, 2006. N. pag. Print.
About the Author
Travis Biglow
Pastor of Victory Empowerment Center. Regional Chaplain High Desert Regional Center Graduates Azusa Pacific University. Licensed General Contractor B. I am the married with one daughter, two grandsons and one step son.2 responses to “Nationalism by Vernacularization”
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I agree that we can have a sense of belonging in places that are clear across the world – kind of what we experienced in Cape Town. Glad you were able to post. 🙂
Yes Mary I that was definetley the feeling. Yes i managed! blessings!