‘Traditions’ which appear or claim to be old are often quite recent in origin and sometimes invented.
Where the old ways are alive, traditions need be neither revived nor invented.
Inventing traditions, it is assumed here, is essentially a process of formalization and ritualization, characterized by reference to the past, if only by imposing repetition.
The Invention of Tradition
I. Introduction: Inventing Traditions
by Eric Hobsbawm