Heroines and History

Coates, Colin M.; Morgan, Cecilia

doi:10.3138/9781442675728

Cited by 51 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Vivid scenes with these features are prominent in both his major works on the War of 1812, A Canadian Campaign and War of 1812. 22 As for Tecumseh himself, he had greatly impressed the young Richardson, who was a youth of 16 when the Shawnee leader was killed. Scholar Leslie Monkman notes that "one of his most treasured memories was of fighting by the side of Tecumseh in the War of 1812."…”

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Co-optation of Tecumseh: The War of 1812 and Racial Discourses in Upper Canada

Brownlie¹

2013

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The Shawnee leader Tecumseh is one of very few named Aboriginal figures who are accorded a place in Canadian history texts. In the years following the War of 1812, he was claimed by Upper Canadians as a war hero and symbol of the struggle with the United States, a “Noble Savage” whose life and death provided material for nation-building discourses. Through the analysis of two long poems about Tecumseh published in the 1820s, this essay examines the early stages of Upper Canada’s co-optation of Tecumseh as a component of its national identity. The valiant but ultimately savage character the poems depicted could inspire Upper Canadians and remind them of their wartime sacrifices, but he also served to mark off Indigenous people from the Euro-Canadians whose cultural superiority legitimated their possession of the colony’s lands and resources. These literary works produced a “Canadian” hero who could be incorporated as a national symbol for a settlement colony he never set out to defend, and whose massive expansion after his death he would have vigorously opposed.

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Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Co-optation of Tecumseh: The War of 1812 and Racial Discourses in Upper Canada

Brownlie¹

2013

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“…As Colin Coates and Cecilia Morgan have asserted, the majority of women commemorated in western society have been archetypes and allegories, not 'flesh and blood historical actors'. 20 Here Marina Warner has effectively examined the allegorical uses of the female form. 21 The transcultural influences of both allegorical and fictional heroines are evident in the legend of Huria Matenga, with the incorporation of Maori as well as European mythologies.…”

Section: Constructing a Mythology Of Life-savingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embodying the Colonial Encounter: Explaining New Zealand's ‘Grace Darling’, Huria Matenga

Pickles

Wanhalla

2010

Gender & History

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Focusing on the heroine of an 1863 New Zealand sea rescue, this article is concerned with gender, race and the colonial encounter. The rescue became an example of harmonious race relations, advocating Maori service as part of settler society governance. The article analyses Huria Matenga's place in the rescue as white settlers endorsed, rewarded and constructed her in relation to the imperial reference point of British heroine Grace Darling. It is argued that the gendered imperial narrative of Grace Darling combined with transcultural representations of women and the sea to accord Huria Matenga a central place in the rescue. While in the early twentieth century Grace Darling's memory was more entrenched in mainstream New Zealand society than Huria Matenga's, by the beginning of the twenty‐first century, Grace Darling as imperial signifier had disappeared, and the legend of Huria Matenga existed alone in a state of postcolonial irony. The article demonstrates that mythologies of and commemoration for heroines are constantly recast and operate across a complex network of local, national and transnational levels.

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“…After the war, texts 'invited the readers to imagine themselves as part of the narrative.' 22 It is interesting to note that while pedagogical approach did indeed change, the interpretive tableau of heroes from the War of 1812 remained and flourished, as did the attempt to craft a national identity through a study of Canada's military and political history.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The War Against Public Forgetfulness:Commemorating 1812 in Canada

Eamon¹

2014

London Journal of Canadian Studies

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In October 2011, the Government of Canada began a two-year, nation-wide celebration of the bicentenary of the War of 1812. The widely-criticized initiative returned the public eye to a traditional ‘interpretive tableau’ of war heroes, namely Isaac Brock, Tecumseh, Charles de Salaberry and Laura Secord. While the scope and expense of the federal government’s efforts have been unprecedented, the political battle to maintain certain memories of the War is one that is not new. A struggle against the forgetfulness of Canadians, and particularly young Canadians, has animated commemorations of the War for almost two centuries. Looking at a selection of past commemorative efforts this essay explores how the inertia of a traditional tableau of heroes has tended to overshadow other narratives and newer interpretations. Yet all is not lost. Using the example of the author’s exhibition, Faces of 1812, it is suggested that publicly-constructed histories can be employed as a useful departure point for the public historian and provide a foundation from which the public can obtain a broader, more critical perspective on both the commemorated events and history writ large.

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Heroines and History

Cited by 51 publications

References 0 publications

The Co-optation of Tecumseh: The War of 1812 and Racial Discourses in Upper Canada

The Co-optation of Tecumseh: The War of 1812 and Racial Discourses in Upper Canada

Embodying the Colonial Encounter: Explaining New Zealand's ‘Grace Darling’, Huria Matenga

The War Against Public Forgetfulness:Commemorating 1812 in Canada

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