There are several ways addressing this topic. One of these is the popular approach of looking at historical processes from the perspective that a single individual plays the crucial and decisive role. Yuri Lotman, a famous Russian scholar, states that history should be seen as "a process taking place with interference from a thinking being", meaning that history, to a large degree, is shaped by human intelligence.

The Brothers Grimm (major publications 1812-1857) and Ernst Arndt (poet, 1898-1961) made people sense cultural unity. Arndt called for a "Fatherland of the German... where every German is called a friend." Another push in appreciation of culture and language were popular ideas from Herder and Fichte (German philosophers, late 1700s) that common language played a crucial role in forming nations.

Many modern scholars belonging to the constructivist school of thought, however, are skeptical about links between language and the formation of...