Paul McCartney encounters Quebec’s nationalists
July 17, 2008 Canadian Politics 4 CommentsBy Dalwhinnie
Some French-Canadian nationalists objected to Paul McCartney’s planned concert on the Plains of Abraham on the ground that an English singer would remind them of their status as a “conquered people.”
The eternal capacity of some French Canadian nationalists to feel themselves humiliated is a source of wonder and guilty amusement. The cheerful news is the derision with which the French Canadian blogsphere has responded, here and here. Most letter writers have been hostile to the objections of the nationalists too.
Do the Germans, Japanese, Hungarians, Poles, Italians, Czechs, and Bulgarians consder themselves permanently humiliated by their defeats since 1763? Since 1918? Since 1945?
For that matter, are the English burning with resentment about the Norman Conquest of 1066? You may recall that the Norman Conquest permanently transferred England out of the Scandinavian orbit into that of Rome (until the Reformation), established a new language, and forged one of the first medieval monarchical states. By and large England was much more transformed by the Norman Conquest than French Canada was by the defeat of Montcalm in 1763. Are we English still bitching about it, or have we embraced it as part of our identities and moved on since about 1200? Maybe it takes 150-300 years.
The only other group still whining about their defeats as a source of national identity are the Serbs. Hmmmn…. Any commonalities?
The general derision heaped on the objectors is a welcome sign that Quebec nationalist whine has a diminished appeal among the Quebecois. We can only hope.
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