Description
Book SynopsisAn anthology that brings work by contemporary Canadian cultural analysts together with that of an earlier generation, including Harold Cardinal, Northrup Frye, Harold Innis, and Marshall McLuhan.
Trade Review“
Canadian Cultural Studies marks an important publication. . . . With contributions from media studies, literary studies, cultural studies, Aboriginal studies, and studies of multiculturalism, as well as government policy documents and a concerted effort to bridge the divide between Quebec and the rest of Canada, this reader does a great job of covering its ground. . . . [T]hese are essential essays and documents. It is, moreover, an accessible and useful text that I heartily recommend to instructors of Canadian studies looking to foster a sense of academic rigour in their courses.” - Kit Dobson,
Canadian Literature“This reader is a timely and provocative reflection on Canadian cultural studies. While some readers may be familiar with many of the essays, encountering them again will prove to be rewarding for the new insights that their juxtapositions in this volume offer. This volume attests to not only to the substantial history of cultural theory in Canada, but also to its vibrancy.”
- Lily Cho,
Ariel“The editors deserve credit for bringing together scattered and not easily accessible seminal articles focusing on Canadian economy and polity. This anthology, comprising historical, contemporary, multidisciplinary, theoretical, and critical essays, will remain an essential sourcebook on Canadian cultural studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” - D. A. Chekki,
Choice“
Canadian Cultural Studies is a brilliant study and appropriation of some of the most important issues that have been central to the history of cultural studies. But there is more at work in this book than appropriation;
Canadian Cultural Studies rewrites that legacy and establishes Canada as a society in which cultural studies as a theoretical discourse and practice is being played out in ways that make this book indispensable to understanding what cultural studies has become and where it might be going in the future. This is an extraordinary book for anyone interested in cultural studies and the importance of Canada in rewriting and applying some of its most fundamental assumptions.”—
Henry A. Giroux, author of
Youth in a Suspect Society: Democracy or Disposability?“For those familiar with cultural studies in Canada, this reader offers a necessary and illuminating consolidation of key texts. For newer eyes, there is fresh inspiration. Expertly selected and organized, the material assembled here is a gilded invitation to explore this rich field of interdisciplinary and politically engaged cultural analysis.
Canadian Cultural Studies: A Reader is a vital contribution to contemporary currents in the study of globalization, nationhood, and identity.”—
Charles R. Acland, author of
Screen Traffic: Movies, Multiplexes, and Global Culture“
Canadian Cultural Studies marks an important publication. . . . With contributions from media studies, literary studies, cultural studies, Aboriginal studies, and studies of multiculturalism, as well as government policy documents and a concerted effort to bridge the divide between Quebec and the rest of Canada, this reader does a great job of covering its ground. . . . [T]hese are essential essays and documents. It is, moreover, an accessible and useful text that I heartily recommend to instructors of Canadian studies looking to foster a sense of academic rigour in their courses.” -- Kit Dobson * Canadian Literature *
“The editors deserve credit for bringing together scattered and not easily accessible seminal articles focusing on Canadian economy and polity. This anthology, comprising historical, contemporary, multidisciplinary, theoretical, and critical essays, will remain an essential sourcebook on Canadian cultural studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” -- D. A. Chekki * Choice *
“This reader is a timely and provocative reflection on Canadian cultural studies. While some readers may be familiar with many of the essays, encountering them again will prove to be rewarding for the new insights that their juxtapositions in this volume offer. This volume attests to not only to the substantial history of cultural theory in Canada, but also to its vibrancy.”
-- Lily Cho * ariel *
Table of ContentsForeword / Fredric Jameson xi
Editors' Note xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction. Between Empires: On Cultural Studies in Canada / Sourayan Mookerjea, Imre Szeman, and Gail Faurschou 1
1. Canadian Cultural Theory: Origins
A Plea for Time / Harold Innis 37
The Military Implications of the American Constitution / Harold Innis 54
Canada as Counter Environment / Marshall McLuhan 71
The Medium Is the Message / Marshall McLuhan 87
Refus Global / Paul-Émile Borduas 100
Conclusion to the
Literary History of Canada / Northrop Frye 111
City of the End of Things / Northrop Frye 129
Canadian Fate and Imperialism / George Grant 145
In Defence of North America / George Grant 160
Of a Hesitant Quebec / Fernand Dumont 173
The Buckskin Curtain: The Indian-Problem Problem / Harold Cardinal 200
The Old Question, but Not the Old Answers / Anthony Wilden 210
2. Contemporary Canadian Cultural Studies
A. Nationalism and Canada 229
The Social Identity of English Canada / Ian Angus 231
"Remembering (from) Where You're Going": Memory as Legacy and Inheritance / Jocelyn Létourneau 248
The True North Song Free / Rob Shields 276
Late Nationalism: The Case of Quebec / Kevin Pask 289
Technological Nationalism / Maurice Charland 308
B. Race, Difference, and Multiculturalism 325
On the Dark Side of the Nation: Politics of Multiculturalism and the State of "Canada" / Himani Bannerji 327
In Whose Interest? Transnational Capital and the Production of Multiculturalism in Canada / Katharyne Mitchell 344
Postmodernism and Cultural Politics in a Multicultural Nation: Contests over Truth in the
Into the Heart of Africa Controversy / Eva Mackey 366
Another Side of Me / Lee Maracle 383
Tewatatha'wi: Aboriginal Nationalism in Taiaiake Alfred's
Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifest / Kristina Fagan 390
Always Indigenize! The Radical Humanities in the Postcolonial Canadian University / Len Findlay 405
C. Modernity and Contemporary Culture 423
Hauled Kicking and Screaming into Modernity: Non-Synchronicity and Globalization in Post-War Newfoundland / Stephen Crocker 425
Theorizing Toronto / Ioan Davies 441
Shifting Boundaries, Lines of Descent: Cultural Studies and Institutional Realignments / Will Straw 457
Writing on the Border / Jody Berland 472
Communities, Civic Boosterism, and Fans / Rick Gruneau and David Whitson 488
Global Vistas and Local Reflection: Negotiating Place and Identity in Vancouver Television / Serra Tinic 501
3. Government Documents
Preface to Government Documents 515
From the
Report of the Royal Commission on National Development in Arts, Letters and Sciences (Massey Commission) / Government of Canada 518
From the
Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (Bi and Bi Commission) / Government of Canada 533
From
Multiculturalism and the Government of Canada (Canadian Government Pamphlet) / Government of Canada 548
Afterword. Are Cultural Studies an Anglo-Saxon Paradigm? Reflections on Cultural Studies in Francophone Networks / Yves Laberge 561
Contributors 581
Index 585
