ABSTRACT
The new Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) in Hull, Quebec, has been both positively and negatively compared to the Disney World (EPCOT) theme park. With its new emphasis on becoming a popular national attraction of ‘infotainment’, the CMC has moved the traditional concept of museum more fully into the realm of a place of consumption. This represents a controversial shift in thinking on the role of the (national) museum. The museum represents a new cross-breed in cultural institutions with its attempt at combining entertainment and consumption methods with those more traditionally used in popular museums. This essay will concentrate on the permanent exhibit known as the History Hall, as a means to understanding this new role of the national museum, specifically as a site of consumption of a prescribed national identity.
