Question

Do you agree with Smith’s definition of myth (p.2: ‘myths are neither illusions nor mere legitimations, they may perhaps be regarded as widely believed tales told in dramatic form, referring to past events but serving present purposes and/or future goals’). Would it apply to myths more generally or just to nationalist myths? How does it apply to his characterisation of instrumentalist approaches to the study of nationalism as a ‘myth of the modern nation’? Do you agree that the instrumentalist approach should be rejected on the grounds that it does not explain the deeper ethnic roots of nationalism or is Smith constructing yet another myth? What would this myth be?