'Imagined Communities' and Speculative Fiction

Books shape who we are and how we dream

Zephyr Point is a popular retreat spot for writers and artists, inspiring imagination with its unbridled, natural beauty.

Welcome to Infophilia, a weekly newsletter about the human love of information and connections. This is one of the places where I'm passionately pioneering the interdisciplinary foundations for a positive psychology of information, an avant garde research pursuit. I'm glad to have you here. As always, thank you for reading.

Cite as: Coleman, Anita S. (2024, Feb. 3). ‘Imagined Communities’ and Speculative Fiction: Books shape who we are and how we dream. Infophilia, a positive psychology of information, 2 (5).

Culture is not synonymous with race or ethnicity and multiple cultural identities are common. I’m reading two books that examine the shaping of cultural and individual identities. They are quite different. Benedict Anderson's highly influential Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism was first published over 40 years ago and revised in 2006. [i] My second is an advance reading copy of Alex Temblador’s Writing an Identity Not Your Own: A Guide for Creative Writers, to be published in 2024. [ii] I am exploring two things: the role of nationalism in cultural identities, and how literature benefits and shapes identities.