去自治领化析论——以加拿大国庆节更名议案为中心的研究(1946—1982)

An Analysis on De-dominionisation:A Case Study on Renaming the Canadian National Day(1946—1982)

1979年,吉姆·戴维森提出以“去自治领化”来描述英帝国的自治领逐渐脱离帝国影响进而形成新的民族认同的过程。本文认为,若要理解去自治领化的意义,关键在于区分这一过程和去殖民化之间的不同,包括受众、出现的时间和界定者这三个方面。加拿大议员意图将国庆节的名称从“自治领日”更改为“加拿大日”所引发的长达36年的讨论,体现了加拿大国内外不同阶层和群体对自治领的认识的变化,是理解去自治领化的极好案例,也展现出去自治领化的真正推动力来自民族国家政府和政治精英。引入“去自治领化”这个概念,有助于建立一组概念工具,将英帝国的瓦解划分成三个层次展开讨论,从而以更具全球性和整体性的视角来认识这个过程。

Jim Davidson coined“de-dominionisation”in 1979,to describe how the dominions of the British Empire built their own national identities.This article argues that it is necessary to clarify the differences between de-dominionisation and de-colonisation from three aspects:target groups,beginning,and definer.The attempts of the Canadian members of the federal parliament to rename the Canadian national day from Dominion Day to Canada Day lasted for 36 years,which showed different social groups’changing understandings of the meaning of“dominion”.It illustrates the government and political elites of nation-states promote de-dominionisation.By using this term,we can explicate that the collapse of the British Empire included three parts.This explanation echoed a global and integrated view of the history of the British Empire.