Q. 10 How did cultural processes help in creating a sense of collective belongingness in India?
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ANSWER -
• THE sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles. But there were a variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people’s imagination.
• History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.
• The identity of the nation is most often symbolised in a figure or image.
• The image of Bharat Mata was created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
• Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms.
• Vande Mataram as a hymn to the motherland widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
• Folklores and tales gave true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces. Therefore, nationalists began recording folk tales and legends.
• As the national movement developed, nationalist leaders became more and more aware of icons and symbolism in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism. During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag was designed.
• History was also important means of creating a feeling of nationalism that gave pride in the nation.