The first time the new Dominion of Canada sent troops overseas, and the first time it fought in a war against another country, was on the veldts of South Africa. This would seem, among those who associate military firsts with national maturity, to be a significant milestone. But Canadians, by and large, don’t remember their participation in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).
Why? Why do we remember some wars and let others fade? The Boer War’s relative absence in our national memory is a shame because having it as part of our narrative could help us understand several elements of late-Victorian Canadian society, including ideas about gender roles, perceptions of duty, and how imperialism was understood on an individual level.
On Thursday, November 22, University of Lethbridge Canadian Studies professor, Dr. Amy Shaw, will present 'A Devil-May-Care Sort of Swagger’: A Case for Remembering Canada in the Boer War. This is the third talk of the 2018/19 season for the Faculty of Arts & Science’s PUBlic Professor Series. The free event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge and is open to the public.
Shaw is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Lethbridge where she teaches courses in Canadian history, especially cultural and military history. She grew up in Ontario and earned her PhD from Western University, in London, Ont. In her teaching and research, Shaw is interested in understandings of citizenship and responsibility, especially in wartime, and how they intersect with ideas about gender.
Some of Shaw’s research on the Boer War has been published in articles on dissent in Canada against the war, and on the public discussion of soldiers’ bodies during the war. Her current book project gathers this all together to look more broadly at Canadian perceptions of the Anglo-Boer War, especially in terms of ideas about imperialism.
The Second Anglo-Boer War was seen by many Canadians as an opportunity to showcase British imperial righteousness and unity, as well as the distinctive national strengths of the young Dominion. Shaw is very interested in how many commentators of the day talked about the bodies of the Canadian soldiers, and the Afrikaners they were fighting. Examining how the soldiers were represented, and what this might mean about normative manliness and the qualities and behaviour of ideal citizens, offers useful insight into the society of the day, and of Canadians’ relationship to imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century.
Further talks scheduled for 2018/19 feature Dr. Alexander Darku (economics), Dr. Tom Johnston (geography) and Dr. Hester Jiskoot (geography). Details on each of their presentations can be found at: ulethbridge.ca/artsci/publicprofessor.