Social representations of Canadian history

Padgett, J.K ORCID: 0000-0001-8911-4407, Adams, G, Yampolsky, M.A, Cameron, J.E, Cila, J and Lalonde, R.N (2026) 'Social representations of Canadian history.' Memory Studies. doi: 10.1177/17506980261425563

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Abstract

Social representations of history are the ways in which lay people recall and think about their collective past. Rather than provide us with an objective view of the past, they highlight present-day subjectivities. The current study assesses social representations of history from three Canadian provinces: Québec, Nova Scotia and Ontario. We catalogue historical events freely recalled by our participants, observing a distinct narrative of Québec nation-building and cultural conflict among our Québécois participants and a narrative built around Canadian progressivism among our Nova Scotian and Ontarian participants. In addition to codifying these narratives, we provide evidence of a historical bias among our participants, whereby events that frame Canada in a positive progressive light are more likely to be considered true than events that conflict with this narrative. Altogether, our results offer a snapshot of social representations of Canadian history and show how historical narratives interact with contemporary identity concerns.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Canada, historical bias, historical narratives, social identity, social representations of history
Divisions:	School of Sciences
Date Deposited:	25 Mar 2026 13:43
Last Modified:	25 Mar 2026 13:43
ISSN:	1750-6980
URN:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/17656

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