[1] ‘Canada or the Tower’: Finding, Depicting and Imagining Canada in the Eighteenth Century

From: Christina S. Martinez
Date: Jul 6, 2020

In 1763, with the conclusion of the Seven Year’s War, Canada was annexed to the British Empire. Alluding to the important political event is the anonymous print 'Canada or the Tower'. In it, John Wilkes (exactly as portrayed by William Hogarth’s earlier satirical print) sits next to a devil-like Lord Bute, coins in hand, who is nudging the politician to accept a bribe while poking him with a stick on which is inscribed ‘have Canada or to the Tower’, indicating that Wilkes had to choose between governance of Canada or prison. His supporter, Lord Temple, leans on Wilke’s chair to exclaim ‘O! Liberty O! my Country’. In 'The Death of General Wolfe' (1770), a landmark history painting by Benjamin West, a Native American, the St. Lawrence River and a glimpse of Québec city are shown. In these works and others, is Canada seen as a land of opportunities, a commodity to exploit, or a territory fraught with difficulties and people to overcome? This panel invites reflections on how a real or imagined Canada came into view throughout the eighteenth century. How were its landscape, foreboding climate, geographical position, inhabitants and tales represented in prints and drawings, literature, theatre and other arts? How did these, in turn, shape public opinion, policies, legislation, viewpoints on taxation, etc.? The panel solicits proposals on these matters as well as on the myths and fabulations that rendered Canada an attractive or a feared land.

Please send proposals of no more than 300 words and a short CV to Cristina S. Martinez (martinezcsmgmail.com), University of Ottawa, by 15 September 2020.

All conference participants must be members in good standing of ASECS or of a constituent society of ISECS. Membership must be current as of 1 December 2020 for inclusion in the program. For further details, please visit the call for papers here: https://www.asecs2021.org/call-for-papers.