The Invention of Tradition Edited by E Hobsbawm and T Ranger

The Invention of Tradition (Canto)

This is a classic text, one that was referred to often in various contexts while I was an undergraduate and which a decade latter I have finally got round to reading.  So it is in some ways hard to judge it as I have knew largely what the point the collection makes for years and in the (almost) 30 years since its publication the ideas have been accepted and built upon - in many places where this collection scratches the surface and suggests more research is needed those gaps have now been fully explored.

The key issue that the collection points out is that many of the social rituals which we take as ancient are in fact recent inventions - for example those attached with the British Monarchy while seeming to go back to the earliest of days turn out often to have been made for television, and the most familiar example, the Scotsman in his clan tartan kilt and bagpipes, is an invention of the Victorians, particularly when worn by a lowland Scots.

The collection is well written and for those unfamiliar with the territory it would remain a great place to start, but for me the most interesting part comes in the last essay where Eric Hobsbawn beginning to look at Europe in a comparative way.  Here the question starts to be asked about why the invented traditions of the British Monarchy seem to have had a great part in ensuring its continuance other European Monarchs despite being equally inventive have been swept away.

Thinking about the Church, which from the highest incense swinging Catholic to the ultra-reformed house church is heavily constructed on traditions, this idea of invention is really helpful.  A great deal of time and energy is spent trying to find the authentic practice of the Church - so we can model ourselves on the worship of the early Church - but the invention of tradition, I think, allows us to bypass this.  We can abandon the 'authentic' because it is an impossible goal and instead ask the more pertinent question "What do our traditions say about us?"  If your ritual practice unlocks the truth of the Gospel then it is of little consequence if it is 2000 years in the making or new this Sunday - the meaning is more important than the origin.