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"A nation," wrote the French philosopher Ernest Renan, "is a soul, a spiritual principle." In a lecture given at the Sorbonne in 1882, Renan explained that this principle is comprised of two elements: "One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories, the other is present-day consent, the desire to live together, the will to perpetuate the value of the heritage that one has received in an undivided form."1 While recent developments in international trade and information technology have been cited as signifiers of the demise of the modern nation-state, rearticulations of its "spiritual principles" have emerged in a variety of ways from a variety of voices.
Consider a commercial aired on Canadian television in June 2001.The advertisement, entitled "Anthem," was the latest in the Molson brewery's seven-year "I Am [Canadian]" campaign for its Canadian brand of beer. Directed primarily at a young male Anglophone demographic, the campaign has garnered significant attention both domestically and abroad for its creative expressions of national identity.2 The ninety-second "Anthem" featured a collection of predominantly male voices singing in unison in a fashion similar to a beer hall ballad.The lyrics are as follows:
I know this place is where I am,
No other place is better than,
No matter where I go I am ...
Proud to be Canadian!
I am, you know I am,
I am Canadian.
I am, you know I am
I am Canadian!
I love this country where I am
This is the land where I make my stand
No other heart is comme celui-la
The one we call Canadian, Canadians
I am, you know I am,
I am Canadian.
I am, you know I am
I am Canadian!3
The lyrics were accompanied by images of what the company trumpeted as a "whirlwind tour of Canadian pride," including the "last spike" that completed the Canadian National Railway, Paul Henderson's gamewinning goal during the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey series, and V-E Day. This material was complemented with reenactments of these events incorporating actors singing along with the Molson anthem.This replica footage utilized the latest in computerized manipulation techniques, including faux sepia coloring and film scratches (to re-create early film stock) in order to create seamless integration with the original imagery In addition to...