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…
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
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Canadians would soon consume their culture and for this, they always held on to their culture
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
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).
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.
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.
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.
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-
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