During the lectorial, I was intrigued by the explanation of Benedict Anderson’s concept of ‘imagined communities’. It’s described as nations that feel apart of these socially constructed communities. This further led me on to doing research into Anderson’s concept, where he begins his introduction to his chapter of Imagined Communities as “my point of departure is that nationality, or, as one might prefer to put it in view of that word’s multiple significations, nation-ness, as well as nationalism, are cultural artefacts of a particular kind” (1983).
Scrolling down Facebook that night, I noticed all of the articles that appeared on my feed, and the particular ones that I would click on (I guiltily admit that this did include BuzzFeed Australia posts). What I learned about the idea of ‘imagined communities’ came back to me then as I was scrolling down these sites and articles that would relate to Australia in particular (i.e. a mother that was found dead in Gladstone, QLD), and I realised my connection with people that I have nothing in common with besides residing in the same country.
