INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES SPRING 2016
Theses on the Philosophy of History ( herein ‘ History ’). 79 The overarching aim is to better understand how Benjamin influenced Anderson ’ s theory of nationalism .
I begin with an overview of Anderson ’ s theory of nationalism . The theory is presented in light of Anderson ’ s later modifications to the original theory in Imagined Communities . 80 Following this , I analyse the elements of this theory that are most obviously inspired by Benjamin ’ s Mechanical Reproduction and History : the notion of print-capitalism , the notion of homogenous , empty time and the image of the Angel of History . Through a focus on these three points of influence , the broader commonalities between Anderson and Benjamin on questions of materialism , culture and politics emerge . Finally , I consider some critical responses to Anderson ’ s theory of nationalism that relate to the influence of Benjamin on Anderson . I argue that Anderson ’ s most recent comment on nationalism , Under Three Flags , 81 makes clear both his relative fidelity to Benjamin and his subtle stance towards nationalism .
Anderson ’ s theory of nationalism
In Imagined Communities , Anderson seeks to define the nation and account for both the origin and spread of nationalism . For Anderson , the nation is an imagined political community that is imagined as limited ( territorially ) and sovereign ( State ). It is imagined as a horizontal community regardless of a hierarchical reality . 82 Anderson emphasises that the nation and nationalism is a ‘ cultural artefact ’, rather than a political ideology . 83
How did nationalism first emerge ? For Anderson , ‘ print-capitalism ’ – the tandem development of print technology and its use in capitalist enterprise made the nation something imaginable . The growth in markets for print commodities ( particularly the demand for popular language material ) undermined the sacredness of script languages , the legitimacy of international dynastic orders and of cosmological world-views . 84 Basically , print-capitalism undermined old ways of imagining the world . Following this , Anderson argues that print-capitalism , combined with the fact of ‘ the fatality of human linguistic diversity ’, not only negated an old cultural imaginary but made the nation ( as a new way of imagining
79
Both found in Walter Benjamin , Illuminations ( Schocken Books , 2007 ).
80
Benedict R . O ' G Anderson , Imagined Communities : Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism , ed . Societies American Council of Learned , Rev . ed . ed . ( London New York : London New York : Verso , 2006 ). Also Language and Power : Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia . And The Spectre of Comparisons : Nationalism , Southeast Asia , and the World ( New York London : New York London : Verso , 1998 ).
81
Under Three Flags : Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination , Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination ( New York , NY : New York , NY : Verso , 2005 ).
82
Imagined Communities : Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism ., 6 .
83
Ibid ., 4 .
84
Ibid ., 36 . 203 | P a g e