HyperCultura (May 2017)
Moments of Nationalism: Global and Local Intersections in Canadian Literature
Abstract
Abstract: As the strength of nation-states seems to have declined in the face of globalizing forces and modern discourses which disavow the fixity of their frontiers, the question emerges whether national identification is vanishing alongside the structures that support it. Certainly, the exclusivist restrictions and homogenizing tendencies inherent to nationalism must be redressed in order to accommodate the socio-cultural transformations that are taking place in an increasingly borderless world. In terms of emotional attachment, however, it cannot be denied that the nation provides one of the most salient contexts in which to locate notions of belonging and identity constructions. This paper offers a literary analysis of Jean McNeil’s novel The Interpreter of Silences, in order to illustrate the phenomenon I call “moments of nationalism”. I argue that, rather than disappearing altogether, national identification materializes temporarily in strategic individual and collective positionings. As overarching national narratives fail to incorporate the multiplicity of cultures and identities they intend to encompass, nationalism can no longer be read as a permanent, stable identity marker. Moments of nationalism are, on the contrary, ephemeral, and their articulation is mediated by intersections with the intranational context of the local-regional and the transnational context of the global.
