When was the War of 1812?

State of the Arts

by Victoria Ward

We used to have a running joke in my family; if you wanted to see how stupid someone was, you asked them “When was the War of 1812?”  Remarkably, several people over the years answered that they were uncertain. But beyond that joke, I didn’t really know much about that historic episode; Canadian history wasn’t the apex of my schooling — it was taught with shocking blandness.

Victoria Ward

I was, however, lucky enough during my incarnation as a playwright to witness Michael Hollingsworth’s The History of the Village of Small Huts, his multi-chaptered plays about the history ofCanada.  I think I have seen all of them, some of them twice.  Hollingsworth describes his plays as history for an audience “raised on rock music and TV; the age of electronic information. It is the goons of history in their very own ‘Goon Show.’ It’s the Canadian ‘Book of the Dead,’ a merry tale told by ghosts and demons.” And it was. (For more information, see Videocab.com.)

Hollingsworth’s satirical look backward at how we came to be wasn’t high art or the finest kind of theatre, but it was eventful, fun, smart and truly patriotic. Here was an artist fromWaleswho was able to pull together the uneven history that isCanadaand make it seem as biting as Monty Python. I wished I’d had him as a high school history teacher; after seeing his plays, I couldn’t believe what I had been missing.

This year marks the 200-year anniversary of the War of 1812. My first experience with this historichigh pointbegan with my partner recalling his childhood inOttawa, in the original war museum where he was able to get up close and personal with General Isaac Brock’s coat and its bullet hole. He introduced me to the bullet hole early in our relationship — that bullet hole represented real, historic horror, a glimpse into violence, an echo of defiance from the past. It was creepy and very, very cool. Historic treasures can reassure us; people who came before were heroes and made mistakes too.

I had no idea that the British burned down the White House during an 1812 skirmish, or that The Star Spangled Banner was written because of and during that war. I had no idea that French, English and Aboriginal soldiered together, creating a more than intimidating front. And that many in theUnited States weren’t even sold on their own revolution and vacillated on whom to support – the British or the ‘Americans’.

I am not a war buff at all. In fact, I’d rather we didn’t ‘celebrate’ the killing of each other. However, the 1812 war commemorations do something more than that. They provides us with stories of how people risked their lives for their beliefs, and how meaningful outcomes came to pass. They also give us a moment to reflect on a war which was fought at home instead of somewhere you only ever see on TV.

In my lifetime, we have seen ourselves as a peacekeeping nation. But if Mr. Harper, our illustrious leader, gets his way, we should be finely militarized by the time he leaves office. He is spending enormous amounts on celebrations this summer, marking the anniversary; the ‘1812 spectacular’ will give him a chance to show us a splashier side to his taciturn personality. Celebrations are also happening across the country that might prove to be as interesting, albeit without the budget.

After the 200 years that have passed, shouldn’t we ask who are we and what have we learned? We Canadians are so sheepish about such things and that’s a shame. It would be truly great if a large scale national event actually propelled us forward in some way, inspired us, and perhaps even enlightened our collective path.  But knowing the tone set by the government these days, the commemorations are likely to be dreadfully serious and stiff.  No, I shouldn’t be so close minded; perhaps this kind of celebration will bring out the poetic side of our government.

How to celebrate war and have it not reek of stodgy propaganda? Vexing. Of course if I were in charge, Michael Hollingsworth would be directing the celebrations on the Hill: a keen sense of the absurd and cheeky anecdotes, all told in a great story, would go a long way towards allowing Canadians of all political stripes to have a much larger experience, and a reason to share it.

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