Some people would do some pretty interesting things in the name of having a cultural identity. How difficult would it be for a group to resurrect a long dead culture (or what they think that culture is) as a basis for creating a unique identity for themselves. For example a having a group in Germany some during or after unification resurrecting the "Gothic" culture to separate themselves from other Germans, etc.
Cultural Resurrection
- Thread starter da Racontor
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On a small scale yes, but I'm thinking of it gaining enough popularity to become mainstream and maybe actually for a new country.
Maybe secularized. non-religious Jews suddenly deciding to join the Zionist project and move to the "Holy Land" might qualify, but even then, most of them had an ancestral connection to the old faith, and at the very least, inherited knowledge of its traditions and practices.
I think it's difficult to get people willing to undertake the arduous task of nation-building when the nation, for all practical purposes, has been artifically constructed within their own lifetime.
It'd be far easier to create a nation based on religious identity, and religious mores could become cultural mores over time, especially if the adherents to this religion overwhelmingly belong to a specific ethnic group. Even just a conversion as an act of protest could work.
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I think the best bet for something like this is similar to what other posters were getting at- but a religious movement. Some guy starts a religion, for instance, that is Arian Christian, and as part of his group people dress and act like Goths (who were historically Arian's).
Maybe also a section of a country reconnecting with a historical 'culture' to demonstrate that they are 'true' citizens as opposed to the majority of people. For instance if in the US Civil War, the North started encouraging the wearing of tricorn hats, and other resurrections of colonial customs. After the war the customs stick around as a mainstream thing seen as 'Northern'
Maybe also a section of a country reconnecting with a historical 'culture' to demonstrate that they are 'true' citizens as opposed to the majority of people. For instance if in the US Civil War, the North started encouraging the wearing of tricorn hats, and other resurrections of colonial customs. After the war the customs stick around as a mainstream thing seen as 'Northern'