Nationalism as a concept first emerged in the late eighteenth century. It was a structural change, fundamental in the transformation in the way of thinking of entire nations. Or as Benedict Anderson would say, in the imaginations of the people of nations. Born with this transformation and new way of thinking was a change in structure and in fact it seems progress was being made. Named the 'century of enlightenment' by Anderson, the dawn of nationalism was "produced by the erosion of religious certainties." (Anderson 1983:19) However, it is difficult to articulate that imagined communities somehow merely grew out of and substituted religious groups and communities.

Nationalism is defined as "a sentiment based on common cultural characteristics that binds a population and often produces a policy of national independence." (Collins English dictionary 1995:757) Therefore it can be said that nationalism is a devotion to the

Anderson, B. 1983 Imagined communities London: British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Gellner on the other hand gives a different definition of nationalism he states that "Nationalism is primarily a political principle, which holds that the political and the national unit should be congruent." (Gellner 1983:1) Opposed to Anderson, Gellner does not believe in communities, suggesting that communities are somewhat of a myth. He does put forward the idea however, that "What do exist are cultures, often subtly grouped, shading into each other, overlapping, intertwined; and there exist, usually but not always, political units of all shapes and sizes." (Gellner 1983:49) In my opinion, Gellner is more interested in culture and what the culture consists of, if the culture is strong then nationalism will be strong also. He states 'will' and 'culture' as being candidates for the construction of a theory of nationality. (Gellner 1983:53) Of course, these two candidates do not hold enough power in themselves to constitute a positive definition for nationalism, or what it takes for a nation to possess strong nationalism. "But two generic agents or catalysts of group formation and maintenance are obviously crucial: will, voluntary adherence and identification, loyalty, solidarity, on the one hand; and fear, coercion, compulsion, on the other." (Gellner 1983:53) Hence, Gellner delivers an array of components, which define nations as groups.

Gellner, E. 1983 Nations and Nationalism Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd

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Approximate Word count = 1453
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)