What is a nation?

First delivered as a lecture at the Sorbonne in 1882, Ernest Renan's What Is a Nation? is a seminal text in the study of nation, nationalism, and nineteenth-century European history. In this work, Renan critically examines the prevailing theories of nationhood of his time. Finding them all inadequate, he develops his own historically-informed theory, which weds considerations of historical continuity to the imperative of present consent.

Key Insights from the Afterword:

In an afterword, political theorist Nathalie Krikorian-Duronsoy provides a deeper understanding of Renan's ideas by:

• Distinguishing Renan's concept of the nation from the social contract tradition, especially in its Rousseauist variant.
• Highlighting Renan's view that the nation is not merely a sum of individuals, but rather an autonomous entity in its own right.

By recognizing this, readers can move beyond the partial interpretations to which What Is a Nation? has often been reduced. This broader understanding reveals the intersections between Renan's thought and contemporary debates on immigration, identity, and the future of the nation-state.