The Political Significance of Cultural Nationalism: The Slavophiles and Their Notion of a Russian Enlightenment

Abstract

For nearly a century, the contrast between a cultural and a political form of nationalism has been upheld. In the early twentieth century, Fredrich Meinecke made a distinction between the political nation, or Staatsnation, based on a common political history and a shared constitution, and the cultural nation, Kulturnation, based on a shared cultural heritage. The most important distinction between the two is that while membership in the former is voluntary, membership in the cultural nation is a matter not of choice, but of common objective identity. Meinecke maintained that political nationalism derived from the spirit of 1789, i.e. from the idea of the self-determination and sovereignty of the nation. Cultural nationalism, in contrast, was a striving for national individuality, characteristic of anti-Enlightenment German thought.

Cultural Nationalism or National Culture as Portrayed in Indian Popular Culture: The Case of Indian Visual Media

“…Cultural nationalism may be viewed as a process to regenerate an opinion in the minds of people through the expansion of its art, its music, its theatre, and its thought to contribute to humanity at large (Rabow-Edling, 2004). Cultural nationalism becomes regressive in the present context when the ruling dispensation uses insidious means to achieve its version of nationalism, nationalistic ideology or simply national consciousness.…”

“…National consciousness is stimulated through a demonstration of cultural uniqueness which, again is revisited in the ancient puranas, and vedas. Cultural nationalists of this stock mainly stem their inspirations from epics, folk traditions, religion and rural dialects (Rabow-Edling, 2004).…”

�National� and �Global� Perspectives in the Works of Alexander S. Pushkin

“…They are simply called the "Westernizers." There is a considerable body of scholarly research arguing that the most vibrant debates between the Slavophiles and Westernizers can be viewed as the beginning of independent Russian philosophy (Yanov, 1976;Malinova, 2008;Rabow-edling, 2004;Lavrin, 1962). They took place in 1840-1850s, 10-20 years after Alexander Pushkin's death.…”