Imperial Nostalgia, Social Ghosts, and Canada’s National War Memorial

Abstract

The National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada, occupies a central ceremonial square in the capital city. Placed in 1939 to commemorate Canada’s involvement in World War I, the monument is the featured element of the national Remembrance Day services, and it is often visited by dignitaries and bestowed wreaths. In this article, I suggest that beyond offering mere instruction in the history of Canada’s World War I involvement, the National War Memorial produces potent lessons in how to feel about being Canadian, and how to mourn as a Canadian. In particular, the National War Memorial has become a conduit for articulations of imperial nostalgia; it compels persuasive, ritual allegiance to Canada’s imperial White settler past. These affective relationships are produced with such success that other identifications—or the proposal of alternative meanings of the monument—are understood as acts of deviance.