Tradition In Eric Hobsbawn's Inventing Traditions

What is tradition? Is all tradition invented?

In terms of the dictionary definitions, an invention is something that is created from scratch whilst a tradition is a belief or behaviour passed down over generations which links it to the past.

In Eric Hobsbawn’s ‘inventing traditions’, he combines these two definitions and states, in a broad sense, that most of the traditions that appear to be ancient in origin are often more recent in invention than one might suspect. He states that new traditions can be grafted from old ones or come about through the use of borrowing – i.e. old materials are adapted or improved. In conclusion, according to Hobsbawn, the very notion of ‘invented tradition’ is to present something that is an entirely new and artificial as if it were wholly traditional.

Hobsbawn states that a even the most blatantly ‘traditionalist’ movements experience a break in traditional continuity. Therefore, most if not all ‘traditional’ societies/movements are not entirely traditional as they might portray. Ironically,

The first relates to the invention of Ossian, a Gaelic poet who was ‘discovered’ in the 18th century. Trevor-Roper goes onto state that the promoters of this Gaelic poet essentially helped popularize the idea that the highland culture was as old as it was distinctive. The second aspect of invented highland tradition is the invention of the kilt after the 18th century by Thomas Rawlinson. Trevor-Roper essentially argues that there was no evolution, just invention, and that the kilt has neither continuity, nor validity as a national dress for highlanders. Consequently, the third and last invented aspect is the invention/creation of tartan – Trevor-Roper argues that the ‘family’ tartans of today probably never existed and that the wearing of kilts and tartan only became popular in the 19th