How the nationalist imagination works

4. “Where Gellner describes how [the nationalist] imagination works …, Anderson describes not only the ‘how’ of imagination, but what is imagined” (Marcus Banks 1996:127). Clarify and critically review the respective merits of the approaches to the study of nationalism essayed by Gellner and Anderson. 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 …

…nationalism are able to hold their own, they are both credible in their arguments. However, I think it is reasonable to conclude that further work can be done in this area to fill the gaps that both have left behind. Word count: 1683. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, B. 1983 Imagined communities London: British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Collins English Dictionary, 1995. HarperCollins Publishers Gellner, E. 1983 Nations and Nationalism Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd Gellner, E 1994 Encounters with Nationalism Blackwell Publishers