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A History of Canadian Culture
From Dorset sculpture to traveling circuses to the Barenaked Ladies, award-winning historian Jonathan Vance reveals a storyteller's ear for narrative.
In a country of unparalleled diversity, "culture" has many different shades of importance and meaning. A stranded Innu woman found by eighteenth-century explorers in the wind-swept Arctic took the time to decorate her clothing with rich designs. The explorers were taken aback; but Vance informs us that the Inuit word meaning "to make poetry" is the same as the word for "breathe"; and both derive from the word for "the soul." Unsurprisingly, Aboriginal culture began to change with the arrival of more Europeans (who brought their own ideas about culture) in one of the many complicated and intertwined tales that Vance weaves together to explore Canada's cultural history.
Vance considers other key issues. Where, for example, is the divide between "culture" and mass entertainment? He describes plays created by sailors trapped in an ice-bound ship through the Arctic winter; "occasionally lewd" tavern music; an early version of Macbeth with a Monty Pythonesque twist--in Canada, so-called high and low culture have coexisted uneasily, and intermingled creatively.
Vance reveals that the hot-button cultural issues we all know and love--government funding for the arts, the cultural brain drain, the drive to preserve distinctly Canadian forms of expression, concerns over copyright protection, the economic impact of cultural industries--can be traced back to previous centuries. Taking into account both the past and modern developments, such as the thriving culture of Quebec and the evolution of the CBC, Vance addresses one of the quintessential anxieties of Canadians--where, and what, is our culture?
In a country of unparalleled diversity, "culture" has many different shades of importance and meaning. A stranded Innu woman found by eighteenth-century explorers in the wind-swept Arctic took the time to decorate her clothing with rich designs. The explorers were taken aback; but Vance informs us that the Inuit word meaning "to make poetry" is the same as the word for "breathe"; and both derive from the word for "the soul." Unsurprisingly, Aboriginal culture began to change with the arrival of more Europeans (who brought their own ideas about culture) in one of the many complicated and intertwined tales that Vance weaves together to explore Canada's cultural history.
Vance considers other key issues. Where, for example, is the divide between "culture" and mass entertainment? He describes plays created by sailors trapped in an ice-bound ship through the Arctic winter; "occasionally lewd" tavern music; an early version of Macbeth with a Monty Pythonesque twist--in Canada, so-called high and low culture have coexisted uneasily, and intermingled creatively.
Vance reveals that the hot-button cultural issues we all know and love--government funding for the arts, the cultural brain drain, the drive to preserve distinctly Canadian forms of expression, concerns over copyright protection, the economic impact of cultural industries--can be traced back to previous centuries. Taking into account both the past and modern developments, such as the thriving culture of Quebec and the evolution of the CBC, Vance addresses one of the quintessential anxieties of Canadians--where, and what, is our culture?
- GenresHistoryNonfictionCanada
500 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2009
About the author
Jonathan F. Vance
22 books9 followersJonathan Vance holds the Canada Research Chair in Conflict and Culture in
the Department of History at The University of Western Ontario. His books
and articles include Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World
War (1997), High Flight: Aviation and the Canadian Imagination (2002), A
Gallant Company: The True Story of "The Great Escape" (2003), and Building
Canada: People and Projects that Shaped the Nation (2006). He is currently
researching the experience of rural Canada during the First World War.
the Department of History at The University of Western Ontario. His books
and articles include Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World
War (1997), High Flight: Aviation and the Canadian Imagination (2002), A
Gallant Company: The True Story of "The Great Escape" (2003), and Building
Canada: People and Projects that Shaped the Nation (2006). He is currently
researching the experience of rural Canada during the First World War.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 14, 2024
Instead of going for a “greatest hits” approach, Vance attempts to balance his coverage of all periods, regions, and types of art, from weaving to circuses. Much of his account deals with the practical challenges of financing, marketing, and managing art in a minor national economy. I learned a fair bit, since I had no idea. Here are some of my favorite lines:
"Nowadays, we tend to see a night at the theatre as relatively risk-free."
"Folklorists have catalogued some 10,000 folk songs in Quebec alone ..."
“When the 1852 Upper Canada Provincial Exhibition was held in Toronto, the art section included not only paintings but stuffed birds, wax flowers, boxes of cigars, fur caps, and dentures.”
As author Ralph Connor sought contracts for his work, in 1902 he received the following offer: “We desire to obtain a love story or storiette with Canada for the background and Massey-Harris Farming Implements interwoven in the theme.”
In 1970, the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media concluded its report with the following thought: “private broadcasters, no matter how sophisticated their individual thought, seem by group interaction to achieve a level perhaps best described as neanderthal.”
“… when Seneca artist Tom Hill told his father that he wanted to study art, the brusque response was ‘What are you going to do, wrap yourself in a damn blanket and sell Indian art to the tourists for the rest of your life?’”
"Nowadays, we tend to see a night at the theatre as relatively risk-free."
"Folklorists have catalogued some 10,000 folk songs in Quebec alone ..."
“When the 1852 Upper Canada Provincial Exhibition was held in Toronto, the art section included not only paintings but stuffed birds, wax flowers, boxes of cigars, fur caps, and dentures.”
As author Ralph Connor sought contracts for his work, in 1902 he received the following offer: “We desire to obtain a love story or storiette with Canada for the background and Massey-Harris Farming Implements interwoven in the theme.”
In 1970, the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media concluded its report with the following thought: “private broadcasters, no matter how sophisticated their individual thought, seem by group interaction to achieve a level perhaps best described as neanderthal.”
“… when Seneca artist Tom Hill told his father that he wanted to study art, the brusque response was ‘What are you going to do, wrap yourself in a damn blanket and sell Indian art to the tourists for the rest of your life?’”
August 15, 2010
This was a mostly fascinating look at Canada's cultural past, with a heavy emphasis on the politics and policies that got us where we are. For instance, did you know that historically Canada wasn't allowed to run its own professional theatre companies - American companies had the rights of all of North America - so actors had to move to the States if they wanted to work professionally. It explains so much.
Definitely worth reading if you're interested in this sort of thing, although give yourself a good chunk of time, because it's heavy on the detail.
Definitely worth reading if you're interested in this sort of thing, although give yourself a good chunk of time, because it's heavy on the detail.
May 7, 2009
No jokes about blank pages or very short books, please!
An overview of some of the bigger issues and trends in Canadian culture, whatever that is. I like the fact that Vance first writes of aboriginal cultures before contact with Europeans.
It's amusing to note that some of our current concerns are in fact several hundred years old.
An overview of some of the bigger issues and trends in Canadian culture, whatever that is. I like the fact that Vance first writes of aboriginal cultures before contact with Europeans.
It's amusing to note that some of our current concerns are in fact several hundred years old.
July 23, 2011
A very interesting read,well researched and full of interesting tidbits that make history happen as it does. The coming together of cultures and who has power shape everything from institutions to buildings. I am always amazed at how few people it really took to create a canadian culture and society.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews