Saturday, August 29, 2009

Word Study: Inchoate

The word inchoate is defined by the Miriam-Webster dictionary as “being only partly in existence or operation.” In our article this week, What is a ‘nation’?, this word is used as an adjective to describe a nation that is developed “through ‘cultural signification.’” In context, we see that an unformed, disorganized, or partially operating nation is, according to author Benedict Anderson, open to development via the selling of cultural products (i.e., the novel was a communications tool used to shape and form culture, and thereafter, a nation). 

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