Toward a Recognition of National Histories: Rethinking Canadian Memory, History and Subjectivity through Memoir

Abstract

This project considers the memoir as a space that offers multiple memories and histories, allowing the rethinking of a perceived meta-narrative of Canadian history. By reading marginalized voices and generational silences in Maria Campbell's Halfbreed and Joy Kogawa's Obasan as testimonies of alternate Canadian histories, this project challenges normative ideas of Canadian identity and history that privilege the colonial, Eurocentric subject. Further, I consider how including memoir in the pedagogical space combats normalized racism and "othering" in Canada. I argue that calling Canadian students to bear witness to memories deemed "forgettable" in a national context opens the possibility of rethinking notions of "Canadian" history and identity.