A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and souls of its people. Many countries have been influenced by various things such as immigration, media, news, as well as trends and fads from both in and out of the country. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, there was mainly news and word of mouth. Many had argued that Canada should establish its own culture to have an identity separate, later growing into a concern of the government. Most would think that the cultural influence was negative as the influences of other countries would take away from the country’s own culture and identity, but it was not the case. The influence of American culture in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada was positive. American music, Hippie culture, and the impact the American …show more content…
cultural influence had given Canada many positive things that was beneficial towards both Canadians and Canada. These things were not only beneficial, but also played a role in building Canada’s identity. A major phase of the 1950s and 1960s were the Hippies who had caused religious and cultural heterogeneity to receive greater acceptance and they had also led unmarried couples to no longer feel victimized for living together. Nonetheless, American culture that poured into Canada, had played a part in forming Canada into the multicultural country that it is today.
American music from the 1950s and 1960s was a huge part of the American culture as it was very influential towards Canadians as it had influenced them to become a popular, successful Canadian singers and songwriters, adapt to Rock and Roll music, as well as creating their own style of music. The American music had influenced Canadians to become popular and successful singers and songwriters. Throughout the 1960s, Canadian singer-songwriters Ian and Sylvia and Mitchell and Lightfoot were among the most highly acclaimed recording artists to have an international impact as they also led the way for more upcoming singer-songwriters. More artists came along after the four mentioned earlier, being: Bruce Cockburn, Murray MacLauchlan, Willie P. Bennett, and Stan Rogers, who had all contributed to the most recognizable and unique Canadian music in the latter half of the 20th century. The influence of American music led to Ian Tyson making a song, “Four Strong Winds”, which had become a global folk anthem and along with Lightfoot’s “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy”, were two songs which had expressed the experiences of a Canadian. Rock and Roll was a popular genre in the 1960s and soon became popular in Canada
coming after the influences from the Americans. Rock and Roll music became a global phenomenon including a massive following in Canada Following the 1960s, Canadian stars emerged to become Rock and Roll stars. Canadians had not only listened to Rock and Roll music, but they had later made their own Rock and Roll music. The first Canadian-made Rock and Roll music to gain international acclaim was “Clap your hands”, in 1960 by a Montreal quartet, The Beau marks. In addition to Canadians being influenced to become popular artists and adapting as well as making their own rock and roll music, they were influenced to create their own style of music. The music history of Quebec had unveiled quite differently than the rest of Canada. Instead of copying the Americans, French Canadians created their own style of pretty and simple poetry inspired by traditional folk songs, which are played on the guitar by songwriters or song makers. Among all the songwriters who existed during this time, there was one famous songwriter. The inspired genius of Felix Leclerc, who became the first Canadian international folk superstar. As most of Canada listened to pop and rock, Quebec was still performing the folk genre. However, it wasn’t until Beatlemania had swept Canada in the 1960s that Quebec artists started to perform pop and rock. Hippies were a huge part of the American culture and they had influenced Canadians to take part in their hippie movement, to both support and use their ideas, as well as leaving an impact on the society as a result of the hippie movement. The Hippie culture was a counter-culture movement that was started by teenagers of the 1960s. The term “hippie” is used often to describe someone who has hippie characteristics, but it is a term that is a possible variation of “hipster”. Hippies originated in the mid-1960s who described the supporters of a counterculture associated with the political and social protest movements of that decade. Just like most things, Canadians were influenced to take part in the Hippie movement, which was influenced by none other than the Americans. In Canada, hippies assembled in the Kitsilano district of Vancouver and around Yorkville Avenue in Toronto. Hippies were often characterized by long hair, beards, unusual clothing, celebration of drugs, rock and roll, and by their sympathy to non-occidental religions, language, economic marginalism, youthfulness, and middle class origins. The hippies were determined to try to break away from society’s values that were placed up on them, hence they protested what they felt was wrong with the world including the Vietnam War. The decade of the 1960s was considered as an era of the rebellion. The movement influenced many Canadians to support and use their ideas which we still continue to use today. Their ideas consisted of mostly peace, love, and non-conformity. Many of their ideas were influenced by Marshall McLuhan and his concept of the post-literate tribal society. They promoted pacifism, communal life, egalitarianism, self-help, and the inviolability of the person and they were hostile to private property, bureaucracies, and technologies. Their ideas had also corresponded to the effort of the New Left (a political movement in the 1960s) in general to propose political and cultural alternatives to the institutions of capitalist society. Lastly, the hippies had influenced Canadians as they left behind a long-lasting impact on society. The Hippie movement led to unmarried couples to no longer fell victimized for living together. Both religious and cultural heterogeneity had received greater acceptance. Fashion was positively impacted during the movement as well as neckties and other business apparel declined in sales and got replaced by more casual dressing standards. The influence of the hippies towards Canadians gave not only Canada but all other countries that were influenced by the hippies an ever-lasting positive impact through the influence. The impact of the American cultural influence on Canada had influenced Canada to rebuild its cultural identity as the federal government to establish the Massey Commission, the cultural policy to get into play, and the establishment of the Canada Council for the Arts. Canada had many memorable times from the influences from American culture, but it was the impact that led to a change in Canada. The impact of American cultural influence in Canada was positive, but it was a main reason for Canada’s cultural identity to be rebuilt. The impact had influenced the Canadian Federal Government to establish the Massey Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters, and Sciences in 1949 as part of the rebuilding process of Canada’s cultural identity. The commission was appointed on April 8th, 1949 by then-Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and the commission was chaired by Canada’s first native-born Governor General Vincent Massey. The commission had issued its monumental report, The Massey Report on June 1st, 1951. They had recommended government control over radio and television due to its distaste for Americanization of Canadian Culture. The Massey Commission on the national development of the Arts stated that the community of Canada not only faced spreading in a vast landscape, but also “influences from across the border, as pervasive as they are friendly.” The commission held 114 public meetings across Canada in 16 different cities as it heard from almost 1,200 witnesses and about 450 briefs were heard as experts in various fields were invited to present special studies. It was a commission had a very good perspective on the culture and they had witnessed the cultural dominance American had over Canadian. The Massey Report in 1957 was deemed as the most understandable and influential document in the development of the Canadian Cultural Policy. The impact of the American cultural influence not only led to the establishment of the Massey Commission, but also for the government to use the cultural policy. The “Cultural Policy” is the government measures that are taken to encourage or to protect activities in areas defined as cultural. In a report in 1957, the commission had stated that a “need for a broadcasting system to help establish a Canadian Cultural Identity, particularly in the face of American encroachments.” The Commission on Publications report of 1961 was convened to investigate the troubled magazine industry, which it stated “is a part of our national heritage reflecting something else than our concern for the market place”. Lastly, the impact of the American cultural influence was the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts. The creation had fulfilled the major recommendation of the Royal Commission on National Development, in the arts, letters, and sciences. Despite abundant talent and a hunger among Canadians for their own creative and intellectual products, "No novelist, poet, short story writer, historian, biographer, or other writer of non-technical books can make even a modestly comfortable living by selling his work in Canada. To develop Canada's indigenous cultural and intellectual life, the Massey Report recommended that the federal government create a Canada Council for the Encouragement of the Arts, Letters, Humanities and Social Sciences. The impact of the American cultural influence had led to big things cultural wise as more attention was received for Canadian culture and to rebuild its identity. Thus, the impact of the American cultural influence had influenced Canada to look into and reform its culture. In conclusion, the influence of American culture in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada was positive as American music, Hippie culture, and the impact of the American Cultural Influence had all masked Canada’s cultural identity which influenced Canada to rebuild its cultural identity and its citizens to do positive and inspiring things. American culture dominated Canada in the 1950s and 1960s as Canadians were occupied with American culture. The cultural influence that it had on Canadian was more positive than negative as American music had influenced Canadians to pursue successful musical careers, to adapt to Rock and Roll music, and creating their own style of music. The Hippie movement had influenced some Canadians to take part in the Hippie movement, to support as well as use their ideas, and also by leaving a long lasting impact on society. Lastly, American culture as a whole had influenced Canada to rebuild its cultural identity by leading to establishments of the Massey Commission, the Canada Council for the Arts, and bringing the cultural policy into play. Cultural dominance over another culture is depicted as a negative influence, but it is not always true. As although the American culture dominated the Canadian culture in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada, it had numerous positive influences that were very beneficial to Canada.
Finally, if the comparison were ever made a survey, it would really show the full scale of Americanization in Canada. But until now we can only see from the daily life, how American culture is inviting Canada. Today more then ever, Canadians are in real danger of loosing their national identity. It is unfortunate that if the study of this cultural influence will be done few years later, it might be too late to save Canadian culture and identity.
Canada as a nation has been striving to characterize itself as more ?Canadian? for decades. This has included numerous struggles and events such as protests, bans, and the creation of the Massey Commission, to encourage national development in the arts, and support major companies like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board (NFB). However, this has not been an easy task for the Canadian government, as major influences from below the border (the United States) have been captivating the Canadian audiences by large. American media has had a momentous revolutionizing effect on Canada, even through efforts made to define Canada with its own cultural identity.
The. Canadian Culture Influences at the Turn of the Century. 18 May 2003. Scribd Inc. 29 May 2011 http://www.scribd.com/doc/2942102/Canadian-culture>. Hope, that is a good idea, Samantha.
During the 1950’s, Canada experienced numerous scenarios which sparked its citizens to be proud. These events included the teenage outbreak, a rise in consumerism and the sudden growth in population. The teenagers were a huge deal in the development of Canada. Teenagers wanted to differentiate themselves from adults and the rest of society (Armstrong et al. 134). Teenagers dressed themselves different along with acting different as well. (Armstrong et al. 135). The new products were being created and sold through the process of consumerism. The new technologies helped shape the look of the new Canadian culture (Bain et al. 219).Lastly, the sudden growth in population was the “baby boom”. The baby boom was a period after WW2 in which babies
Teenage life in Canada during the 1950’s is hard to understand unless having lived there. With this new demographic, many things had to be created in order to satisfy this demographic, such as clothing, music, rules, and schools. Unique aspects of teenage life in this era include a lot of rules, the movie theatre, rock n roll and the way they communicated to each other. Issues teenagers faces include marginalization, condemnation and disapproval. The new demographic helped Canada as it made the “children” demographic smaller, and it gave the teenagers more freedom, independence and they finally felt as they could have their own “stuff” as they would call their music, their clothes, their friends their social life etc.
In conclusion, Canada was influenced throughout the 1920's by America, that by 1929 Canada became very similar to America in social trends, economics and produce. But has this stopped in modern day era? Canada continues to be heavily influenced by the amount of American products and media outpouring into Canada. Canada has made attempts throughout time to impede the onslaught of American invasion but American invasion is seen on a huge global scale. Hit movies, tv shows, products among others are generally based on American culture, views, or based within American domain. It is a reign yet to be stopped.
In the last 20 years the penetration of the Canadian market by American cultural industries is still extremely strong. The United States is still the main source of culture products. American products represent 81% of all culture commodity imports. Canadians watch American TV shows, listen to American music, love American sports teams, drive American cars and buy American goods at American stores like Walmart. They eat American food, drink American beer (sometimes).
Folklores are stories that have been through many time periods. Folklore include Legends, Myths, and Fairy Tales. Legends are traditional tales handed down from earlier times and believed to have a historical basis. Myths are ancient stories dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes. Fairy Tales are fantasy tales with legendary being and creators.
The culture of Canada refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that are a representative of Canada and Canadians. Throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced by American culture because of a shared language, proximity, television and migration between the two countries. Over time, Canadian-American relations have helped develop Canada’s identity during the years 1945-1982; thus introducing changing social norms, media and entertainment. In support of this, due to the United States being approximately 9.25 times larger in population and having the dominant cultural and economic influence, it played a vital role in establishing Canada’s identity. With Canada being its neighbour, naturally, the United States would influence their way of life upon Canada.
Canadians would soon consume their culture and for this, they always held on to their culture
“Multiculturalism” entered public speech in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Canada that focused on unique cultural diversity, nationalities, and ethnicity across the nation. Multiculturalism and Immigration are important factors in the development of Canada to attain a strong multicultural example of economic stability, social and political growth which leads to the emergence of Canada’s identity and culture.
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.
Canada’s own identity starts with our remarkable sense of culture and customs. For the native peoples, the Canadian identity stretches thousands of years into the search of struggles to retain elements of their ancient culture. From a colonial perspective, the traditions which surface in Canadian culture seem to be born of an earlier time, of different origins and places, of old-fashioned rituals, and customs. Unlike the United States, its senior neighbor, Canada’s aged-like identity is more reserved and skillful, unwilling to commit it self to anything specific. Within each region of Canada-
Many things in today's world are now run on interconnected relations between countries and the spread of new ideas. These relations and spread of ideas are here because of globalization, the interaction and integration among different nations. Globalization, on the other hand affects so many other areas as well. A significant area that is affected is pop culture and because of this many question whether or not that the globalization of pop culture has a positive effect on Canadian identity. Some believe that globalization is a negative for Canadian identity as it allows outside influence to hinder our current values and lead to a loss in our collective identity. However, the fact is that the globalization of pop culture positively affects
The two images presented show the sheer amount of closed mindedness that past Americans had. The implication of these schools was an attempt to eliminate a culture of people. Images like these really emphasize how much America has changed for the better good. Instead of oppressing individuals to fit “the American way”, individual expression of culture has become a core value in America. Additionally, the concept of taking a before and after photo of these kids displays an enormous sense of overbearingness; that changing them is something to be proud of as well as something to show off. Schools like these back then demonstrate that the previous values of america were fundamentally egocentric. Moreover, it shows just how narrow of a gap there