{"product_id":"what-is-a-nation-text-of-a-lecture-delivered-at-the-sorbonne-on-11-march-1882","title":"What Is a Nation? Text of a Lecture Delivered at the Sorbonne on 11 March 1882","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst delivered as a lecture at the Sorbonne in 1882, Ernest Renan's \u003cem\u003eWhat Is a Nation?\u003c\/em\u003e is a seminal text in the study of nation, nationalism, and nineteenth-century European history. In it, Renan critically reviews the prevailing theories of nationhood of his time. Finding all inadequate to the task, he then develops his own, historically-informed theory wedding considerations of historical continuity to the imperative of present consent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn an afterword, the political theorist Nathalie Krikorian-Duronsoy distinguishes Renan's idea of the nation from the social contract tradition, particularly in its Rousseauist variant. In Renan's view, the nation is not a mere sum of individuals but an autonomous entity in its own right. Only by grasping this may one move beyond the extremely partial reading to which\u003cem\u003e What Is a Nation?\u003c\/em\u003e has long been reduced and recognize the various ways in which Renan's thought intersects with contemporary debates regarding immigration, identity, and the future of the nation state.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eErnest Renan\u003c\/strong\u003e (1823-92) was a French writer, philologist, philosopher, and historian. Widely considered to be one of the most distinguished scholars of his era, Renan is today principally remembered for two works: his \u003cem\u003eLife of Jesus\u003c\/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eVie de Jésus\u003c\/em\u003e, 1863), which was immensely controversial in its time for its depiction of the historical Jesus, and\u003cem\u003e What Is a Nation?\u003c\/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eQu'est-ce qu'une nation?\u003c\/em\u003e, 1882), a lecture on the idea of nationhood delivered at the Sorbonne in 1882 in which Renan responds to the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Itasca Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54526377394451,"sku":"9798988739944","price":8.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0948\/3521\/2563\/files\/9798988739944ita.jpg?v=1785852123","url":"https:\/\/danuc.net\/products\/what-is-a-nation-text-of-a-lecture-delivered-at-the-sorbonne-on-11-march-1882","provider":"Danu's Wardrobe","version":"1.0","type":"link"}