<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The article engages with the cultural impact of John McCrae’s canonical poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915), and more specifically the permutations of cultural memory and heritage discourse in <italic>In Flanders Fields: 100 Years: Writing on War, Loss and Remembrance</italic>, edited by Amanda Betts and published in 2015. It shows how thirteen Canadians explore the revolutionary role of the poem in Canadian collective and individual memory, as well as its omissions and misrepresentations. The article juxtaposes the cultural history of the poem with Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” and its contemporary transformations, also showing how selected essays in the collection bridge the First World War with other armed conflicts. Applying Ann Rigney’s terminology, the article approaches the poem as a textual monument, demonstrating how “In Flanders Fields” has evolved from the role of a <italic>stabilizer</italic> in Canadian cultural memory, providing a cultural frame for later recollections, to that of a <italic>calibrator</italic>, becoming a benchmark for critical reflection on dominant memorial practices.</p>
</abstract>

The article engages with the cultural impact of John McCrae’s canonical poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915), and more specifically the permutations of cultural memory and heritage discourse in In Flanders Fields: 100 Years: Writing on War, Loss and Remembrance, edited by Amanda Betts and published in 2015. It shows how thirteen Canadians explore the revolutionary role of the poem in Canadian collective and individual memory, as well as its omissions and misrepresentations. The article juxtaposes the cultural history of the poem with Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” and its contemporary transformations, also showing how selected essays in the collection bridge the First World War with other armed conflicts. Applying Ann Rigney’s terminology, the article approaches the poem as a textual monument, demonstrating how “In Flanders Fields” has evolved from the role of a stabilizer in Canadian cultural memory, providing a cultural frame for later recollections, to that of a calibrator, becoming a benchmark for critical reflection on dominant memorial practices.

Permutations of Remembrance and (Counter-) Monumentalization: John Mccrae’s <italic>in Flanders Fields</italic>

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Permutations of Remembrance and (Counter-) Monumentalization: John Mccrae’s 

The article engages with the cultural impact of John McCrae’s canonical poem “In Flanders Fields” (1915), and more specifically the permutations of cultural...

Permutations of Remembrance and (Counter-) Monumentalization: John Mccrae’s in Flanders Fields

Published Online: Mar 13, 2021

Page range: 427 - 443

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/stap-2020-0021

Keywords
Heritage, cultural memory, monumentalization, trauma, body, family memory, witnessing

© 2020 Anna Branach-Kallas, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Permutations of Remembrance and (Counter-) Monumentalization: John Mccrae’s in Flanders Fields

Published Online: Mar 13, 2021

Page range: 427 - 443

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/stap-2020-0021

KeywordsHeritage, cultural memory, monumentalization, trauma, body, family memory, witnessing

© 2020 Anna Branach-Kallas, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Heritage, cultural memory, monumentalization, trauma, body, family memory, witnessing