Question

What is a nation according to ERNST RENAN

Answer 1

Ernest Renan defines a nation as an entity based on acts of the free will of individuals forming a collective identity: “A nation is a soul, a spiritual principle. Two things, which in truth are but one, constitute this soul or spiritual principle. One lies in the past, one in the present.

Answer 2

"What is a Nation?" is an 1882 lecture by French historian Ernest Renan, known for the statements that a nation is "a daily referendum", and that nations are based as much on what the people jointly forget as on what they remember.