It has been said in jest that a fair percentage of Canadian culture rests in the effort to distinguish itself culturally from its southern neighbour, the United States. However, while the two regions share some aspects of a common cultural heritage, there is certainly a separately identifiable "Canadian culture." This is marked by such elements as a greater integration of Native American cultures than elsewhere in the Americas; the retention of traditions descended from those of French settlers; and a notable infusion of Celtic settlers in later phases of the region's history.
One matter of contention in the effort to study Canadian culture rests in the fact of Canada's bilingualism; there is little reason to question the distinct identity of the English- and French-speaking peoples of Canada. However, John Ralston Saul conjectures that Gabrielle Roy is better known in anglophone Canada than in France, and more French-Canadians than Americans know of Margaret Laurence and Atom Egoyan.
| Table of contents |
|
2 Canadian literature 3 Canadian theatre 4 Canadian film and television 5 Canadian comedy 6 Canadian music 7 Canadian stereotypes |
Canadian art
See Art in Canada.
See Canadian literature and List of Canadian writers.
Canada has a thriving stage theatre scene, especially around Toronto. Theatre festivals draw many tourists in the summer months, especially the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario Ontario, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara On The Lake, Ontario. The Famous People Players are only one of many touring companies that have also developed an international reputation.
See Theatre in Canada.
Although often eclipsed at cinemas abroad and at home by Hollywood, Canada has a vigorous film industry that has produced a variety of well-known films, actors, and auteurs. In fact, this eclipsing may sometimes be creditable for the rather bizarre and quite innovative directions of the works of such auteurs as Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, 1997) and David Cronenberg. Also, the distinct French-Canadian society permits the work of directors such as Denys Arcand and Denis Villeneuve. However because of the closeness of the giant American TV and film industries, distinctively Canadian productions are relatively thin on the ground, compared with the situations in Britain or Australia. Canadian TV stations usually fill their prime times with US shows, often running at the same time as they are broadcast in the US.
A number of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood significantly contributed to the creation of the motion picture industry in the early days of the 20th century. Over the years, many Canadians have made enormous contributions to the American entertainment industry, although they are frequently not recognised as Canadians (see Famous Canadians).
Canada's film industry is in full expansion as a site for Hollywood productions. The series The X-Files was famously shot in Vancouver as is Stargate SG-1, and The Outer Limits. The American Queer as Folk is filmed in Toronto. Montreal, due to its European appearance, has served in a great variety of mainstream movies, attracting the loyalty of industry people such as Bruce Willis; there are plans to build the world's biggest film studio on the outskirts of the city. The choice of location is usually due to cost, rather than a requirement for a 'Canadian atmosphere'. The frequent question of a Canadian, seeing a film crew on their local streets is "Which bit of America are we pretending to be today?".
Canadian television, especially supported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is the home of a variety of locally-produced shows. French-language television, like French Canadian film is buffered from excessive American influence by the fact of language, and likewise supports a host of home-grown productions. The relative success of French-language domestic television and movies in Canada often exceeds that of its English-language counterpart.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's Canadian content regulations dictates that a certain percentage of a domestic broadcaster's transmission time per day must include content that is produced by Canadians, or covers Canadian subjects. This also applies to US cable television channels such as MTV and the Discovery Channel, which have local versions of their channels available on Canadian cable networks. Similarly, BBC Canada, while primarily showing BBC shows from the UK, also carries Canadian output.
One of the country's attempts to counteract the overwhelming influence of American media is the National Film Board of Canada/Office National du Film du Canada, "a public agency that produces and distributes films and other audiovisual works which reflect Canada to Canadians and the rest of the world".
Canadian TV is noted for cutting political satire such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer's Monday Report, Talking To Americans, and Royal Canadian Air Farce.
There are plenty of eminent Canadian humorists. The Kids in the Hall were a popular Canadian sketch group. Also the Second City Television show originated in the Toronto Second City operation, which produced many comedians that went on to success worldwide, including John Candy, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Katherine O'Hara, and others.
Other Canadian comics and comedy groups include Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, CODCO (the precursors to This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Maggie Cassella, and Elvira Kurt. The Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal is one of the world's most important comedy festivals.
Canada has developed its own brands of traditional musics, including the Scottish-derived Cape Breton Violin Music of the Maritimes, the Franco-Celtic styles of Quebec that often include foot percussion and a scat style called turlutte; and other national styles from the Ontario Valley to the west. Noted proponents are Buddy MacMaster and his niece Natalie of Cape Breton and Madame Bolduc of Quebec, whose recordings in the 1930s lifted her people through depressing times.
In the realm of popular music, Canada has produced a variety of internationally successful performers, such as the Barenaked Ladies, Dream Warriors, Guess Who, Rush, The Band, Finger Eleven, The Tragically Hip, Prozzak, Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion, Roch Voisine, Avril Lavigne, Paul Anka, and Gordon Lightfoot.
See also: Music of Canada
Canadians are stereotyped by other nationalities as being nice, but rather dull-'decaffeinated Americans' being one description, while the definition of a Canadian as 'an American with healthcare and no gun' is another. One joke goes 'How do you get Canadians out of a swimmming pool? You ask them.'
A Canadian politician remarked that Canada was supposed to have British government, French culture and American know-how, but instead ended up with French government, American culture and British know-how.
Part of Canadian culture is a self-deprecating awareness of these stereotypes and assorted cultural highlights, for example Canadian French, Canadian English, eh, the RCMP, joual, poutine, winter, the Canadian Arctic, First Nations people and Inuit (to the extent to which the cultures of these groups are mapped onto that of the country as a whole), maple syrup, ice hockey, and beer.
In 2003, the country's official refusal to get involved in the US invasion of Iraq, the proposed decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of marijuana and the legalization of same sex marriages were noted internationally. As the UK magazine, The Economist, noted Canada has taken the image of a North American culture that is "cool" in that it is taking a socially progressive tone in contrast to the USA.Canadian literature
Canadian theatre
Canadian film and television
Canadian comedy
Canadian music
Canadian stereotypes
