Monuments,mundanity and memory: Altering ‘place’ and ‘space’ at the National War Memorial (Canada)

Abstract

On 1 July 2006, three youths were photographed urinating on the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada. This event affected Canadian collective memory in a very particular and subtle way. It acted as a catalyst for the (re)emergence of two discourses concerning Canadian collective memory. Each had competing claims and demands and became entangled in a negotiation that took place through the mass media. This negotiation led to the alteration of ‘place’ and ‘space’ at the National War Memorial through the introduction of particular tactics of surveillance. These aimed to limit the porosity of the site’s boundaries and, consequently, affected the nature of citizens’ interaction with the memory-site. This small event is important because its mundanity (and lack of intent) highlights the depth of the instability, and subtle dynamism, of collective memory.