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Exiled, Executed, Exalted: Louis Riel, Homo Sacer and the Production of Canadian Sovereignty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2010

Kevin Bruyneel
Kevin Bruyneel*
Affiliation:
Babson College
*
Kevin Bruyneel, Division of History and Society, Babson College, Wellesley MA 02144; kbruyneel@babson.edu
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Abstract

Abstract. In this article, I argue that Louis Riel is a necessary invention for the production of Canadian sovereignty. The argument builds on the work of Giorgio Agamben. I see Riel as a Canadian version of homo sacer, “who may be killed but not sacrificed,” and thereby serves as the exception that proves the rule of Canadian sovereignty. I carry out this argument in three stages, focusing first on Riel's exile in 1870 after the Red River Rebellion. I then bring Agamben's insights into an examination of the tensions between French and English Canada over Riel's execution in 1885. Finally, I look at the contemporary exaltation of Riel, focusing on the two statues that have occupied the legislative grounds in Winnipeg, which, when considered in tandem, serve as a metaphor for the relationship between liberal and colonial dynamics in Canada political history. The liberal–colonial relationship is key to Riel's ambivalent standing in contemporary Canadian political life.

Résumé. Dans cet article, je tente de démontrer, en m'appuyant sur le travail de Giorgio Agamben, que Louis Riel est une invention qui fut nécessaire à la création de la souveraineté canadienne. Pour moi, Riel est un homo sacer version canadienne, quelqu'un qui peut être éliminé mais non sacrifié et qui, par conséquent, représente l'exception qui confirme la règle de la souveraineté canadienne. Mon argumentaire se développe en trois étapes, mettant d'abord l'emphase sur l'exil de Louis Riel en 1870, à la suite de la rébellion de la Rivière-Rouge. En tenant compte du point de vue d'Agamben, j'analyse ensuite les tensions entre francophones et anglophones exacerbées par l'exécution de Louis Riel en 1885. Enfin, je jette un regard sur la réhabilitation de Riel dans le Canada contemporain en comparant les deux statues qui ont tour à tour orné le Palais législatif à Winnipeg. On ne peut s'empêcher d'y voir une métaphore de la relation entre les dynamiques libérale et coloniale à travers l'histoire de la politique canadienne, cette relation étant un élément clé pour comprendre le statut ambivalent de Riel dans la politique canadienne contemporaine.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , September 2010 , pp. 711 - 732
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2010

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