ABSTRACT
The study of the construction of national identities in Europe sheds light on several remarkable phenomena and this chapter reviews all these. The chapter then highlights two aspects of the process of constructing European national identities. Firstly, this construction process, conducted by cultured elites, was generally undertaken by reference to popular or folk culture. Secondly, this process of shaping national cultural identity on the basis of a constructed folk culture presents very striking similarities in the different regions of Europe. This process breaks down into three major periods. The first is the phase of affirmation of an original and ahistorical national culture, of which contemporary folk culture may be regarded as the depositary. The second corresponds to the proliferation of representations of that national culture, and their dissemination within ever broader social groups. The third frequently follows upon the constitution of the nation as a political entity.
