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History vocabulary · Social History

Invented tradition

Meaning in history, with examples

nounCommon term

In history, invented tradition means: A repeated practice presented as continuous with the past although its formal pattern is relatively recent.

In Turkish: icat edilmiş gelenek

How it is used

The term concerns the construction of continuity; it does not mean participants' feelings are unreal.

Example sentences

  1. The new civic parade soon became an invented tradition with an ancient origin story.

    Recent ritual is given authority through a claim of antiquity.

  2. The historian used dated programmes to investigate the invented tradition.

    Documents can test claims about how long a practice has existed.

Common collocations

  • an invented tradition
  • the invention of tradition
  • legacyThe lasting effects, ideas, institutions or problems that a person, period, empire or event leaves behind for later generations.
  • source criticismThe careful evaluation of a historical source to judge where it came from, who made it and why, and how reliable and useful it is for a particular question.

More terms: Social History

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