A History of Canadian Culture

by Jonathan F. Vance

From Dorset sculpture to the Barenaked Ladies, award-winning historian Jonathan F. Vance reveals a storyteller's ear for narrative.
In a country this diverse, 'culture' has different meanings. Vance tells a story from the wind-swept Arctic where a stranded Innu woman, fighting to survive, took the time to decorate her clothing with rich designs. A British explorer was amazed at her efforts, but Vance reminds us of the inseparable connection between life and art in Inuit culture (the Innu word for 'breathe' also means 'to make poetry,' and both derive from the word for 'the soul'). No surprise that Aboriginal culture began to change irrevocably with the arrival of more Europeans (who brought their own ideas about culture). But that is another tale in Vance's fascinating History.
Vance considers a range of key topics. Where, for example, is the divide between 'culture' and mass entertainment? He also considers how the hot-button issues of Canadian culture-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. And he shines new light on other key areas, such as the unique culture of Quebec and the CBC.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada

500 pages, Paperback

Published January 17, 2011

About the author

Jonathan 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.

Reviews

[Liam Devitt]

I mean, it does what it says on the tin. Vance seems more concerned with settler culture and "national identity" than how "Canadian" culture has been operationalized to re/entrench settler colonialism. This is really missing the forest for the trees. Such a cliché is terribly apt given his examination of the Group of Seven. Nevertheless, it's a fine survey of Canadian culture, its just framed in really not the best way.

[Dasha]

A detailed history of Canadian culture, Vance provides excellent analysis and description of culture throughout Canada's long history. He begins by focusing on Canada's first artists, the Indigenous people. After that chapter, things quickly pick up the pace with most of the book focusing on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I enjoyed the images that are littered throughout the book. My one critique would be that Vance focuses largely on "high" culture, rather than working and lower class groups of Canada.

[Fay]

Excellent overview of Canadian culture and put things into perspective. Easy reading style with lots of information.

[Gord Higginson]

Wonderful survey--read it all in one weekend!