Editors’ Introduction: Exploring Transculturalism

Abstract

The nation state has been at the heart of political discourse since its invention in the nineteenth century. Before this, crossing state borders did not have the same cultural implications as it does today: there was no sense that one was transnational simply because one moved from one political state to another. The idea that states/countries and their cultures are congruent emerged from the widespread perception of the state as the legal and political expression of a sovereign, unified and culturally unique nation. This connection between national boundaries and culture persists in the popular imagination even today: when we travel to Germany, for example, it is German culture that we expect to find people practising. This relationship between the state and its culture is also at the heart of debates about national identity.