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Making Tracks
The Myth of CPR
From: National Dreams
$1.17
The myth of the CPR as creator of the country is, in fact, as old as the railway itself, which is not surprising given that it was the railway itself which created the myth. The mundane act of constructing a railway was transformed into a heroic narrative of nation building. Canada accepted its autonomy as a country gradually, almost tentatively, as opposed to many other countries which seized it enthusiastically and proclaimed it defiantly. As a result, we have no myth of creation, no narrative which celebrates the birth of the nation, not even a central image like Uncle Sam or John Bull to personify the community and sum up what it stands for.
Contributors
Daniel Frances
Daniel Francis is an historian and the author/editor of more than twenty books, including five for Arsenal Pulp Press: The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture , National Dreams: Myth, Memory and Canadian History, LD: Mayor Louis Taylor and the Rise of Vancouver (winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award), Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919, Canada's First War on Terror and Imagining Ourselves: Classics of Canadian Non-Fiction. His other books include A Road for Canada, Red Light Neon: A History of Vancouver's Sex Trade, Copying People: Photographing British Columbia First Nations 1860-1940, The Great Chase: A History of World Whaling, New Beginnings: A Social History of Canada, and the popular Encyclopedia of British Columbia. He is also a regular columnist in Geist magazine, and was shortlisted for Canada's History Pierre Berton Award in 2010. Daniel lives in North Vancouver, BC.
