ABSTRACT
In an often cited text dealing with the role of cultural symbols in political
history the historian Eric Hobsbawm defined the ‘broad but not imprecise’
term ‘invented tradition’ as ‘a set of practices, normally governed by
overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of ritual or symbolic nature, which
seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition,
which automatically implies continuity with the past’. By adapting ‘old
models for new purposes’ historical actors find legitimacy, status and
acceptance for their ideas and/or vested interests.1 Hence, the practice of
inventing traditions is of great importance for the pursuit of power in most
human societies. In many cases invented traditions serve as both useful
and forceful arguments in order to convince actors and legitimise power.
We can find examples of such usage everywhere in history as well as in
contemporary society. History matters, and very much so. Consequently, to
‘fabricate’ – in the manner in which cultural historian Peter Burke has
used this concept – a grand historical tradition backwards for a certain
political or cultural institution no doubt does a great deal for its resistance
and continuation.2
