“We Stand on Guard for Thee”: Protecting the Myths of Nation in “Canvas of War”

Abstract

The following comment is from an editorial in national newspaper Globe and Mail on Canada Day 2001: Who is to blame for a lack of knowledge of history? First of all, schools, which have been influenced by modern academic preference for social rather than political history. In their zeal to teach story of ordinary people, they are neglecting to teach story of great individuals and great events.... Government, too, is at fault. Eager to promote multiculturalism at a time of heavy immigration, Ottawa has deliberately played down this country's roots and let part of our national heritage slip away ... 1 Between 1998 and 2001, comments such as this proliferated in national press, suggesting that a certain narrative of history was under threat. What I will look at in this paper is how this perceived threat was played out during these years through use of First World as an appropriate event around which all could or should come together. In turn, use of this historical event was given a certain validity through exhibition of war paintings, Canvas of War, on display at Museum of Civilization during same time frame. I argue that in both exhibition and wider series of events, an imagined need for a monolithic nationalist history was answered through construction of a myth of nationality that, while taking into account other histories, subsumed them into a dominant British-Canadian narrative of nation that served both dominant class and corporate interests. Canada's policy of multiculturalism is unique in that it is a government sanctioned system essentially for protection and promotion of various cultures making up Canadian mosaic.2 Officially then, it appears to advance a national identity based on acceptance, but in practice this is often not case. This celebration of difference is always based on a single definition of Canadian, presenting an impossible unity, and defining a core group as Canadian-Canadians, against whom everyone else is defined as a hyphenated, or multicultural Canadian? In turn, this formalization of core and alternative groups allows policing of dominant class boundaries through definitions of what is and is not considered Canadian. Eva Mackey, for example, argues that the reproduction of 'crisis' allows nation to be a site of a constantly regulated politics of identity.4 In other words, a perceived crisis, such as Canadians don't know their history, allows dominant class (in this case Anglo-Canadian) narratives to be reiterated and strengthened at expense of competing definitions of nationality. The Canvas of War exhibition was a case in point. This show opened at Museum of Civilization in Ottawa/Hull in January 2000, and was billed as extremely important to history. Canvas of War showcased what were termed masterpieces from Museum and consisted mainly of paintings from First and Second World collections. The exhibition emphasized Canada's coming of age through trauma of First World battles at Ypres and Vimy Ridge. Also hightlighted were formation of popular Group of Seven in wake of First World and experience of several Group members as war artists, as well as importance of war art collection to history. The exhibition's dark walls, somber music and boutique lighting complemented a narrative path that guided viewers through history of struggle to build a strong nation. However, because display only included canvasses from Museum's collection, which has a heavy emphasis on AngloCanadian interpretations of war, issues such as French-Canadian anger over conscription or ongoing controversy over Japanese internment camps were ignored, resulting in omission of potentially controversial content. …