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Canadas of the Mind: The Making and Unmaking of Canadian Nationalisms in the Twentieth Century.

Article Excerpt
Norman Hillmer and Adam Chapnick, eds. Canadas of the Mind: The Making and Unmaking of Canadian Nationalisms in the Twentieth Century. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2007. x + 326 pp. $85 cloth, $29.95 paper.

How do Canadians define Canada? Contemporary commentary dwells on regionalism, provincialism, federal-provincial differences and disputes, social fringe benefits such as health care, and anti-Americanism (a low-level prejudice). Perhaps being as Canadian as necessary under the circumstances captures it. Norman Hillmer and Adam Chapnick use E.J. Hobsbawn's view that nationalists invent their nations, but how do nationalists know a nation when they see one? And are they appointed or self-nominated? The contributors to this book collectively attest that there is no singular Canadian nationalism. It remains an image in the eyes of the beholders and in the minds behind the eyes.

The chapters cover a range of cultural, social, economic, and political themes. We visit individual and collective minds in various settings. One appears in Peter Henshaw's study...