I would call it nationalism. Medieval Europe had no notion of nations. The Dutch national hero, for example, is Prince of Orange, a small sunny principality in South of France.
Throughout the history people associated themselves with their Sovereign, who could be a Spanish king in the Dutch case, or some German duke in case of Italians etc.
Then suddenly in the 19th century there was huge social demand for an independent nation-state. And that demand has met its supply in the form of national legend building.
Scots got their kilts (tartan originally was cloth supplied to colonies), Finns got their national epos written by a single guy, Russians got their national literature written by people who spoke French most of time.
An important lesson is that perception is reality and the one who controls (writes) the history can shape our self-identify.
I would call it nationalism. Medieval Europe had no notion of nations. The Dutch national hero, for example, is Prince of Orange, a small sunny principality in South of France.
Throughout the history people associated themselves with their Sovereign, who could be a Spanish king in the Dutch case, or some German duke in case of Italians etc.
Then suddenly in the 19th century there was huge social demand for an independent nation-state. And that demand has met its supply in the form of national legend building.
Scots got their kilts (tartan originally was cloth supplied to colonies), Finns got their national epos written by a single guy, Russians got their national literature written by people who spoke French most of time.
An important lesson is that perception is reality and the one who controls (writes) the history can shape our self-identify.