Benedict Anderson About Nationalism (In mijn vaders huis, 1994)

Anil Ramdas interviews Benedict Anderson about his book “Imagined communities“ The introduction is in Dutch. See the English transcript of the introduction below: “What the eye is for the lover, is language for the patriot. Because in the national language, according to Benedict Anderson, we imagine a community to which we belong. The community, the nation that has always been there and gives us a sense of connection with people that we will never meet, but of whom we know that they exist. They are our peers, we share the same language, a same history, believe the same myths, have the same habits and we read the same newspapers. With this approach on Nationalism, Benedict Anderson entered an area which had been anxiously avoided by other scientists. Nationalism was a scary thing, it incited murder, racism and anti-Semitism. Benedict Anderson disagrees, Nationalism is exactly what the word says love for the fatherland. A love for the place where you were born, where you feel at home, where you can instinct