Invented tradition

Background

A set of practices, typically ritualistic or symbolic, aims to instill values and behavioral norms through repetition, such as saluting a flag before class. These practices attempt to create a bridge between an uncertain present and an idealized image of the past. British historian Eric Hobsbawm, along with Terence Ranger, explored this phenomenon in their edited collection The Invention of Tradition. Hobsbawm argues that invented traditions serve three main purposes: they foster social cohesion, legitimize institutions and authority structures, and solidify value systems and beliefs. Ronald L. Baker comments that Hobsbawm's notion may be in some ways a polite phrasing of Richard M. Dorson's fakelore, a pejorative.

Application of the term and paradox

The idea of invented tradition applies to things like neo-Druidism in Britain, neopaganism generally, Scottish tartanry, major religious traditions, and certain Korean and Japanese martial arts. It has shaped related ideas such as Benedict Anderson's imagined communities and the pizza effect. The clear line between tradition and modernity is often itself a fabrication. As Hobsbawm and Ranger noted, modern nations present themselves as ancient and natural, even though they are new and constructed. The notion of authenticity is frequently open to doubt.

Pseudo-folklore

Fakelore, also called pseudo-folklore, is material that is presented as genuine tradition but is actually invented or heavily reworked for modern audiences. The key element is deception: an artist who adapts a traditional story is not creating fakelore unless they falsely claim their version is authentic folklore. The term has become less common in folklore studies because it focuses on where something came from rather than how it is used. American folklorist Richard M. Dorson coined the word in 1950.

He pointed to Pecos Bill, a cowboy character invented by writer Edward S. O'Reilly in 1923 and later passed off as a folk hero. Dorson also considered Paul Bunyan fakelore. While Bunyan began as a figure in logger tales, ad writer William B. Laughead created most of the stories now associated with him, turning the character into a pseudo folk hero of mass culture. A related concept is folklorismus, which refers to the invention or adaptation of folklore.

Unlike fakelore, folklorismus is not inherently deceptive; it covers any use of a tradition outside its original setting, such as in tourism, commercial art, or television commercials.

Criticism

One reviewer, Peter Burke, stated that the 'invention of tradition' is a splendidly subversive phrase but hides serious ambiguities. He questioned where adaptability or flexibility ends and invention begins, given that all traditions change, and whether it is possible to discriminate genuine antiques from fakes. Another reviewer noted that such distinctions resolve into one between the genuine and the spurious, a distinction that may be untenable because all traditions are humanly created rather than naturally given. Guy Beiner proposed that a more accurate term would be 'reinvention of tradition', signifying a creative process involving renewal, reinterpretation, and revision.