Ambiguously Hip: The Tragically Hip and Canadian Nationalism

The Tragically Hip are a remarkable, indeed unique, phenomenon in Canadian popular music. Their 2016 final tour, undertaken after lead singer Gordon Downie was diagnosed with brain cancer, spectacularly reinforced longstanding perceptions of a privileged link between the band’s music and Canadian national identity. This article probes this connection, asking why deeply ambiguous and often critical references to Canada sufficed to raise The Hip to an extraordinary status as icons of Canadian nationalism. Drawing from theories of “banal” and “everyday” nationalism, it argues that, while The Hip’s work may legitimately be read as nationalist, Canada's position as a culturally peripheral nation is the key to explaining the incongruous appropriation of the Hip’s work for nationalist self-celebration. The discourse around The Tragically Hip, then, helps to illuminate some of the ways in which nationalism works in a culturally peripheral context.