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Canadian culture analysis
Essay on canada culture
American vs canadian culture
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The Canadian identity has always been difficult to define. We, as
Canadians, have continued to define ourselves by reference to what we are not -
American - rather than in terms of our own national history and tradition. This
is ironic since the United States is continuing to be allowed by Canadians to
take over our economy and literally buy our country. Culturally Canada has its
own distinct government and institutions which differ and are better from those
in the United States, but economically the country has been all but sold out to
America. The major cultural differences to be examined are that of Canada's
strong government, institutions such as welfare and universal healthcare, and
our profound respect for law and authority. These establishments make Canada a
separate nation from the USA. Economically, it will be examined how Canada has
become a victim to Americanization through the purchase of Canada with our own
money, the shocking statistics of Canada's foreign ownership, and the final
payment for our country, free trade. All in all we have our own government, our
own flag, our own anthem; but are we really Canadian or a not quite United State
of America?
In Canada, strong government involvement plays an immense role in
determining the destiny of its people for the good of the society.
In Canada you are reminded of the government every day. It parades before you.
It is not content to be the servant, but will be the master...
Henry David Thoreau, 18861
Although slightly outdated, as of 1982 47.3 percent of Canada's GNP was
in government hands, compared with 38% in the United States. Government
spending in Canada was 24.4% greater than in the U.S. and if you subtract the
U.S.'s excessive national defense spending, the gap between the two countries
considerable widens.2 The United States has adopted a more Freudian "survival
of the fittest" concept towards government where the rights of the individual
are predominant and industry is publicly owned and run with little help from the
government. Although there is some government control and ownership of industry
in both countries it is much more common in Canada where "the state has always
dominated and shaped the ... economy."3
Of 400 top industrial firms, 25 were controlled by federal or provincial
governments. Of the top 50 industrialists, all ranked by sales, 7 were either
wholly owned or controlled by the federal or provincial governments. For
financial institutions, 9 of the top 25 were federally or provincially owned or
As its own state Quebec would have the capacity to act, consolidate and further create their own cultural identity (Heard, 2013). For example, Quebec could foster the national language to be French. By gaining independence from Canada, Quebec can then create their own laws, own immigration rules and levy taxes (Heard, 2013). This would allow Quebec to be completely independent from the rest of Canada, but they would have connecting boarders like the United States and Canada do.
Canada has ceased to be a nation, but its formal political existence will not end
"To prohibit a great people from making all that they can of every part of their own produce advantageous to themselves, is a manifest violation of the most sacred rights of mankind." These views of Adam Smith were very much supported throughout the mid-18th century. Throughout this time, many new developments were made regarding American colonists view's of their sense of identity and unity as Americans. Due to an over controlling British government and a need for individuality as a country, colonists became Americans through their great fight to highly develop their sense of identity and unity as Americans.
Much has been written about the ways in which Canada's state as a nation is, as Peter Harcourt writes, "described" and hence, "imagined" (Harcourt, "The Canadian Nation -- An Unfinished Text", 6) through the cultural products that it produces. Harcourt's terms are justifiably elusive. The familiar concept of "Canadian culture", and hence Canadian cinema, within critical terminology is essentially based on the principle that the ideology of a national identity, supposedly limited by such tangible parameters as lines on a map, emerges from a common geographical and mythological experience among its people. The concept that cultural products produced in Canada will be somehow innately "Canadian" in form and content first presupposes the existence of such things as inherently Canadian qualities that can be observed. Second, it presupposes a certain commonality to all Canadian artists and posits them as vessels through which these said "inherently Canadian qualities" can naturally flow. Third, it also assumes the loosely Lacanian principle that Canadian consumers of culture are predisposed to identify and enjoy the semiotic and mythological systems of their nation, and further connotes that Canadians have fair access to their own cultural products. Since these assumptions are indeed flawed but not altogether false, this paper will deal with the general relationship between the concept of Canada, its cultural texts, and its mythological and critical discourse as an unresolved problematic that should be left "open" in order to maximize the "meaning potential" of films as cultural texts within the context of "national identity," an ideological construct that remains constantly in flux.
Is Canada a nation or has its control just switched empirical hands? As Professor Hutcheson asked, did Canada go from "Colony to Nation or Empire to Empire?" This question has greatly influenced Canada's changing identity since her birth as a British colony with Confederation in 1867 to the present day. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyse the shifting Canadian identities between the years 1890 to 1960. The objective is to illustrate Canada's transforming identity by using the novels The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan, and Fifth Business by Robertson Davies and to connect the stories of each of these works of fiction to the varying political, economic, and social issues of their times. Each book is written by a prominent author, and portrays an accurate reflection of the demanding political, economic, and social concerns throughout the late nineteen and first half of the twentieth century of Canadian history. All of the novels reflect Canada's peripheral view of the world, as opposed to a central point of view, because throughout its history Canada has always been perceived as a secondary player. As George Grant says in his literary piece Lament for a Nation, Canada is "a branch plant society" , meaning Canada is controlled by another power. The essential question is where has Canada's loyalties traditionally lay and how has this shaped the Canadian identity. The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, written in 1904 reflects a very British influenced Canada. At this time, Canada is still a British colony under British rule, and the people of Canada are very content to consider themselves British. The novel predominately ill...
The Dual Nation Theory took its heading starting in 1960, with the beginning of the sovereignty movement (Gorman, Robert F. 2008. 2018-2020). It truly took off, however, with the Quiet Revolution, where the idea of “maîtres chez nous” and the shift from being a distinct part of Canada to Quebec being a nation in its own right begins to take hold. Québécois nationalism defined Confederation as being an agreement between two peoples: the French and the English. “Quebec constitutes within Canada a distinct society, which includes a French-speaking majority, a unique culture and civil law tradition” (Chotalia, 1993). This is significant to mention because this is the theory that ultimately leads to the Three Nation Theory.
We could add many more statistics, anecdotes and facts, but these numbers are enough to show how the economies of our two countries are intertwined, and to demonstrate the magnitude of the Canada-U.S. economic relationship
Many people to this day still do not have a collective agreement on what is the Canadian identity? Depending whom you ask you may get a wide variety of answer spanning the spectrum of possibilities, more so now, than at any point of the history of our nation. This essay will investigate how Pierre Elliott Trudeau found himself as a Canadian, and will demonstrate how it is his surroundings in which he immersed himself that shaped who he became. It is only later in his life that he truly discovered himself as well as his identity. Through the use of John English's biography as our primary reference we will investigate the development in Trudeau's character as he becomes older and experiences turning points in his life.
Signs and symbols are two very important parts of a society because a society is deeply rooted on the various signs and symbols that people come across on daily basis.
Many people across the globe argue that nationalism within Canada is simply not feasible. It is said that we as a people, differ so greatly with our diverse cultures, religions, and backgrounds that we cannot come together and exist together as a strong, united nation. In his book, Lament for a Nation, George Grant tells the reader that “…as Canadians we attempted a ridiculous task in trying to build a conservative nation in the age of progress, on a continent we share with the most dynamic nation on earth. The current history is against us.” (1965) Originally directed towards the Bomarc Missile Crisis, the book argues that whatever nationalism Canada had was destroyed by globalization as well as the powerful American sphere of influence. Although it is true that the book was initially written as a response to the events that took place in the late 1950s, many of the points are still valid today.
Since the British Empire conquered North America, Canada has been a tightly connected colony of Britain. Canada has always under British rule and their cultures and national identity copied each other. However, after the Second Cold War Canada became culturally different in comparison to Britain and was lacking their own individual national identity. Joining NORAD, introducing a new Canadian flag, and fact that Canada’s Constitution was patriated helped ameliorate an identity for Canada. These advances of becoming an autonomous country after the Second World War helped Canada where it is today.
Lazar, Harvey. “The Spending Power and the Harper Government.” HeinOnline. 34 Queen's L.J. 125 2008-2009
What does it mean to be a Canadian? What are the common values shared by the Canadian citizens? Denise Chong, who was an economic advisor to the Canadian Prime Minister, delivered the speech “Being Canadian” during the Canadian citizenship week, 1995. She explains in this speech the importance of Canadian citizenship, the values shared by the Canadians and how to strengthen the Canadian values.
Today Canada and the United States are major trading partners, allies, and two neighboring countries with a long history of cooperation with each other. But is it possible for Canada to protect its independence and culture living next door to the country so powerful and rich as the United States. Since the Canadian confederation, Canada started developing relations with the U.S. As the years passed by, Canada began to relay on the United States in the national defense. Many Canadians think that the military, political and economical dependence would not make a difference to their daily life. But today more then even Canadian culture is affected by the American influence. Media, American artists, economic dependence, American propaganda and political pressure from the United States is making Canada too Americanized. All of these factors reflect on the social life of ordinary Canadians threatening the heritage and the traditions that define Canada as independent country.
The debate about British Identity has been prominently featured in recent years as a public concern. The foundation of British Identity was based on the act of union in 1801 between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland that created Great Britain. Heath and Roberts describe this identity as “a relatively recent construct and was gradually superimposed on earlier national identities of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish” (2008:4). The four nations were unified mainly because of the political and economic project of the British Empire that developed a shared agenda and The Second World War which melted the distinctive differences between the constituent nations (Ward, 2004). According to Colley, the interests that unified the nations do not exist and even if they do” they are less distinctive” (1992). Although there is identification with Britishness, it is noticeable that Britons hold a stronger allegiance to their primary nation. The British Identity is decreasing as many writers suggested, and this is due to many different trends and influences such as globalization, immigration and communication (Heath and Roberts, 2008). This essay highlights some of the reasons of the decline in the British national identity and the rise of the consentient nation’s sentiment. This is approached by firstly considering the internal factors of the devolution of power to Scotland and Wales, and secondly the external factor of immigration and will analyze the relationship between age and identification with a nation.