LESSON 6: IMAGINED COMMUNITIES: REFLECTIONS ON THE

ORIGINS AND SPREAD OF NATIONALISM

INTRODUCTION

Jose Rizal’s literary works led to the awakening of the Filipinos’

sense of nationalism thus, the Philippines’ achievement of its
independence was greatly attributed to him, and therefore, he was
acclaimed as the Father of Nationalism.

SUMMARY OF LESSON

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism is a book written
by Benedict Anderson and published in 1991. In the book, Anderson stated that “to understand
nationalism one must look at the manner in which national identities have formed over time which can
account for why they are so meaningful today”.

The author depicts a nation as a socially constructed community, imagined by the people who
perceive themselves as part of that group. That formation of nations or the imagined communities are
encouraged by the development of printing press. Books, newspapers and pamphlets were printed in a
commonly spoken language giving rise to the people’s (who read said materials) perception that they
have something in common.

In part, the book gives testimonial to Rizal’s role in manifesting aspects of a nation identity. It
acknowledges that Rizal, through his literary works, became an instrument in facilitating a person’s
internal allegiance to the nation, in awakening awareness of citizenship, the creation of a sense of
national kinship and conceptualization of Filipino as a “people” or “the people” – an element of the
‘imagined community’ that constitutes nationalism.

Specifically, Anderson cited, as an example, the opening passage of the novel Noli Me Tangere
(José Rizal, 1887, written in Spanish (the colonial language), in which anonymous people around the
capital Manila (an imagined community) share gossip and the narrator directly addresses future
Filipinos. The anonymous collective of Manila residents in Rizal’s novel represents a miniature copy of the
Philippine nation—despite never having met one another, they clearly have common interests and are
even imagined as creating a new generation that will share those interests. By highlighting these aspects
of the novel form, Anderson shows that the novel contains the ingredients of the imagined community,
which is likely what makes it such a powerful vehicle for the formation of nationalist movements.

ACTIVITY 3
Answer the following questions concisely in a separate sheet of paper. (5 pts. each)

1. Benedict Anderson claims that nations are imagined communities. To what extent is Philippines
an imagined community with a distinct national identity?
2. Religion is a prominent theme in Imagined Communities. Do you believe it is religion that unites
people?