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Art Art & Politics

Finding Diefenbunker

Canadian Nationalism and Cold War Memory

by (author) Sara Matthews & Justin Anstett

contributions by Patricia Molloy

Publisher
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Initial publish date
Jun 2015
Category
Art & Politics, Political, Post-Confederation (1867-)
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781771121293
    Publish Date
    Jun 2015
    List Price
    $1.99

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Description

The text discusses the legacy of the Cold War in Canada by looking at Prime Minister Diefenbaker’s “Diefenbunkers”—eleven nuclear fallout shelters constructed in secret in the late 1950s to protect the Canadian national and provincial governments from a nuclear strike. While many of these sites have fallen into disrepair or been sold off, one such site has recently been repurposed as “Canada's Cold War Museum” with the explicit purpose of fostering “interest and critical understanding of the Cold War.”

The text questions how the site, its museumological apparatus, and the community curation of various rooms in the museum, constructs a “Cold War” for use in Canadian memory; questions the validity of considering the Diefenbunker as a memory site, following Pierre Nora's seminal concept; and explores the role of fictions in the interactive exhibits that aim to engage Canadian youth—in particular—in the issues of nuclear war, emergency measures, and the role of civil defence. The museum and its displays are interrogated for their performance of and possibilities for inscription, re-inscription, and resignification of Canadian cultural memory.

About the authors

Sara Matthews is Assistant Professor, Department of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Sara Matthews' profile page

Justin Anstett is an M.A. candidate, Balsillie School for International Affairs.

Justin Anstett's profile page

Patricia Molloy is Contract Faculty, Department of Communication Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Patricia Molloy's profile page

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