Arnold J. Bauer (1931–2015)

Abstract

Hispanic American Historical Review HAHR / November with one another. The nationalism that Anderson imagined was a cultural formation based on the experience of parallel readings of the news, in a kind of synchronized, progressive race between nations moving across what he, fol- lowing Walter Benjamin, called “homogeneous, empty time.” In that regard, one of the key underpinnings and effects of nationalism was secularism—the emptying out of messianic time and its reduction to “progress.” I don’t believe it was a coincidence that Anderson understood the historical significance of the colonial experience as well as he did. He had lived through the last gasps of the British Empire since childhood and later became a privi- leged witness to the hopeful beginnings of anticolonial nationalisms. He then watched the shocking devolution of these nationalisms into counterrevolutions or war among the newly independent republics. The introduction to Imagined Communities opens with the deeply troubling problem of nationalist wars between revolutionary, postcolonial states such as Vietnam, China, and the Soviet Union. There is in Anderson’s version of nationalism an account of not only the emancipatory thrill of decolonization but also revolutionary entrap- ment. Working through disillusion is a key aspect of Anderson’s insights, and disillusion, even shock, ran deep in this unusually sensitive and engaged author. Anderson compared the impact of the Indonesian genocide on his life to dis- covering that one had loved a murderer. I met Benedict Anderson only once, at a small conference organized at the University of Chicago in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Imagined Communities. I was invited to that event because of the critical essay that I had published on the work. Apparently Anderson appreciated it. In person, Ben Anderson was as gentle and amiable as he was cultivated, evenhanded, and incisive. He made one of the most important social scientific contributions of the final quarter of the twentieth century. May he rest in peace. claudio lomnitz , Columbia University doi 10.1215/00182168-3677651 Arnold J. Bauer (1931–2015) Arnold J. Bauer—Arnie to just about everyone—passed away on July 30, 2015, after a sudden case of meningitis. He left a huge community of friends and family who valued his sense of humor, passion for conversation, and loyalty. He contributed to Latin American history through wide-ranging and engaging publications and his work as a teacher and mentor in the United States and Chile. Published by Duke University Press