试论民族共同体的性质、内容及其形成——对所谓民族是“想像的共同体”的质疑

On the Nature,Content and Formation of National Community——Query What is Known as "Imagined Communities"

关于民族的定义向来极为复杂,没有定论。在此基础上,近些年来在西方又有新的思潮出现,其中代表性的著作是本尼迪克特.安德森的《想象的共同体》,该书对民族的界定是:"它(民族)是一种想象的政治共同体——并且,它是被想象为本质上有限的,同时也享有主权的共同体。"这一理论,在国内外学者中,产生了不同的反应。本文试就这些新的观点,结合传统的理论以及史实,进行质疑性的探讨。

No final conclusion has yet been reached on the definition of nationality. In recent years, a new representative theory was advanced by Anderson in his Imagined Communities, it says＂ it （nationality） is a Imagined Communities--limited in essence, it enjoys rights of the sovereignty.＂ This theory exerts a great international repercussions. This paper tries to raise doubts about his theory on the basis of the traditional theory and historical facts.