Herder and the Spirit of a People

The German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) helped shape cultural nationalism. Herder argued that every people, or Volk, has a unique character expressed above all through its language, folk songs and traditions, and that humanity is enriched by this diversity. Later writers summed up his idea with the term Volksgeist, the 'spirit of a people'. Herder himself valued all cultures, criticized conquest and colonialism, and did not claim that any people was superior.

Yet his ideas could be used in very different ways: they inspired scholars across Central and Eastern Europe to collect folklore and write grammars of languages that elites had looked down on, and later more aggressive nationalists turned the idea of a unique Volk into claims of superiority. Herder shows how one idea can support both respect for cultural diversity and exclusive nationalism, depending on who uses it.