Johann Gottfried Herder
Also called: Herder · Topic: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "The Rise of Nationalism in Europe"
Meaning
Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) was a German philosopher. He said that true German culture was found among the common people. In German this is das volk, which means "the people". He believed that folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances showed the true spirit of the nation. He called this spirit the volksgeist. His ideas shaped Romantic nationalism. This was the belief that a nation rests on a shared culture and past, not only on reason or law.
Example
Herder's ideas made it seem important for nation-building to collect and record folk songs and tales. Because these were sung and told aloud, they could reach people who could not read. The Grimm brothers' collection of German folktales (1812) followed this same line of thinking.
Don't confuse with
- Ernst Renan: Herder rooted the nation in folk culture and the common people. Renan (1882) said a nation is a shared will to live together, "a daily plebiscite". He rejected language, race and similar things as its basis.
Related concepts
- July Revolution
- Greek War of Independence
- Romanticism
- Volksgeist
- Ethnic nationalism
- Grimm brothers
- Partition of Poland