Canadian Culture: an Essay

D. Geoffrey Bell

Essay on Canadian Culture
return to D. Geoffrey Bell's Home Page

Canadian Culture: Why Bother?

What is CANADIAN Culture?

Music of ALL types, from "serious" Classical through Traditional Folk to all forms of modern, up-to-the-minute popular music!
Art, Architecture, Dance, Literature, political cartoons, jokes, Film, live theatre, ALL contribute elements to the enigma which we call "Canadian Culture."

We can ask people directly involved in the Fine Arts to extract the elements that are uniquely Canadian. This is an interesting challenge, worth pondering. Part of the difficulty is that the subject is too close to home. Does this mean that we have a less identifiable style? Not necessarily... it seems that critics from abroad are more likely to label the style of our Artistic productions "distinctly Canadian". We have to spend some time examining our own roots before we can begin to recognize what makes us uniquely Canadian today.

The most obvious historical influences come from the French, British and Aboriginal cultures that form a significant part of our heritage. Mix in the countless other cultures that have made Canada their new home, and we begin to see why "Canadian culture" is such an enigma! From West-Coast totem poles to Acadian music, from the Inukshuk of the Inuit to cowboy culture in Alberta, our culture is an amazing blend of diverse cultural backgrounds!

Our large neighbour to the South has also exerted a steady influence, which grew dramatically when Radio and Television broadcasts from the United States became available to Canadians. Suddenly, we didn't need our own culture anymore, because a pre-packaged high-budget Hollywood-glitz culture was being served up to us with no effort needed on our part! We now had the luxury to just sit back and watch it happen! Most Canadians have grown up under this steady influence which has been present for the past 50 years.

Where are we today?

Government regulations try to protect our Canadian identity for us by dictating the minimum amount of Canadian content that Canadian broadcasts must contain. Without these artificial limits, broadcasters may choose to play any amount of Canadian content, from all to none. This, however, has no effect on American stations that are piped directly into our homes by cable companies and satelite dishes.

The North American Free Trade Agreement and General Agreement on Tarrifs and Trade both attack the legality of government control over culture. As this is now a legal battle, our Canadian content regulations could be abandoned, leaving us open to the whims of programmers. Looking to the American television networks, one can easily see that success is based on ratings, and only the most commercially successful programs are used. The dollar decides what people see or hear, and what they never get a chance to see or hear.

The new specialty television channels offer us a high degree of Canadian content, but suffered a serious setback just as they were being launched because of the cable television companies' billing scandal. As a result, many potential subscribers cancelled in anger before they had a chance to see what's new in our culture. I believe that much of the content that survives on these channels will be valuable just because it is different from what is available commercially, and because the Canadian content is so prevalent.

Can we guarantee that our children will grow up knowing about our own country and cultural heritage, or will we simply be overwhelmed by the 500-channel universe? Should we bother trying to protect the shaky identity that we have? Do we have a Canadian culture at all?

WHY BOTHER?

Why should we bother paying any attention to the cultural happenings around us? Why should we bother helping our children to develop their awareness of what Canadians have done, and are doing?

Here's a little quiz...(you don't have to answer out loud):

Name some Canadian composers who are alive today.

Some people have difficulty naming any! Again, our school training tends to focus on composers who have proven that their music stands the test of time. It is certainly valuable to have a solid grounding in "The Classics", but it is important not to get stuck in a time-warp between the years 1700 and 1910!

Click here for a list of Canadian composers and performers covering a wide range of styles. Click here for a list of organizations that promote Canadian music, and a list for further reading. I hope that you will discover something new today worth exploring. Further, I hope that you will "catch the fever" and pass it on. Explore the vast variety of music and other Fine Arts that are "uniquely Canadian."

How can teachers inspire our children to learn about Canada's culural past, and the culture of today?

Before we charge in to answer this question, remember that the line that separates one Fine Art from another is totally artificial! For that matter, the separation of all school subjects is a matter of convenience for the purposes of Education, but doesn't reflect real life!

At the Junior High and High School level, it is easy for a teacher of English, Social Studies, or any of the Fine Arts to start a lesson by asking, "How many Famous Canadian whatevers can you name? Students can make individual or small group lists which can then be discussed with the class as a whole. Issue a challenge to each student to find more names, or to choose an unfamiliar name to research. Why are these people famous? How have they made a significant contribution to Canada? (This is a useful project for the student that comes with a new cast on their arm for the first day of the Gymnastics Unit.)

At the Elementary School level, it is easy to take the "Student of the Week" idea and apply it to "Canadian of the Week". Magazines like MacLeans provide a good selection of photos and articles about current personalities in many disciplines. If you choose people that the children can relate to in some way, they begin to get a sense that Canada does have some noteworthy citizens! Do your children know who Laura Secord is? Do they know the story of Madelain de Verchere? Do they realize how many actors that they see on television and movies, and musicians that they hear are actually Canadian?

I spent an evening over coffee with a small group of friends recently, including a respected Calgary visual artist. She told me about how she paints to music. Each of her paintings reflects the mood that she was feeling on the day the painting was created. She routinely chooses a size of canvas that suits her that particular day, chooses a specific composer or piece of music to listen to, puts on the CD, and gets to work! If the musical selection is too short and a new piece with a different feeling begins, she leaps over to the CD player and programs it to loop over and over again until she's done painting.

As a challenge to an Art class, or perhaps even as a matter of routine, why not play a specific piece of music for an Art period. Ask the students to close their eyes for the first few minutes of the piece, and to let the feeling of the music affect their work.

Why stop there? Choose a short passage about a dramatic event in Canada's history to read out loud to the class. Have them create something that expresses the drama of the event!

Drama classes can easily use music as a tool. Take mime practice a step further by having students choose a short piece of music, then develop a sketch that tells a story that matches the music.

Elementary music classes combine easily with Social Studies themes and Art projects. Grade 3 classes can learn traditional Pioneer songs, songs of the Inuit or other First Nations, and create Art works that depict the ideas that they have learned. More adventuresome teachers can introduce Dance, either traditional or creative. I teach at a school where each class or Grade puts on one school assembly per year, combining many of the Fine Arts to share what they have learned with the school.

Next time you're stuck for an idea, try movies! When I want to introduce a new piece of music that might be difficult for some students to relate to, I ask them to close their eyes as they listen, and imagine a movie inside their heads that reflects what is happening in the music! I'll often show part of Fantasia first to show them what a creative mind can do with a piece of classical music. In Art class, why not take a painting or drawing that you would like to become familiar to students, and ask them to create a movie in their head that leads up the still frame depicted in the painting, then continues on after. Have them create a storyboard or choose one frame to for a detailed Artwork.

What about poetry? They're well worth introducing to the next generation. A Junior-High or High-School English class can really "take off" on a unit that combines Poetry and Music, Poetry based on Art, Poetry based on Historical Events in Canada, Poetry and Creative Presentations....

Math teachers: next time you introduce the concept of "Symmetry", start the lesson with the the song "Symmetry" by Jane Siberry!

Chemistry teachers: shock your colleagues by starting your lesson on chemical bonding with "NACL" by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. It's a love song between sodium and chlorine!

Who are the Heros of Canadian Children today?

Cartoon characters? Sitcom characters? Who do our students look up to and respect? We have to make sure that children have a choice of heros. We need to help them become aware of Canadians who have contributed to the well-being of people, and the well-being of our planet!

Imagine living and teaching in a society where the Fine Arts aren't valued by citizens or the Government. Imagine a place where people heap riches on the gladiators that perform in their arenas while the Fine Artists must often beg for help from the Government to allow them to keep working.

Imagine a country where the Government leaders spend most of the funds for the Fine Arts on developing a better television set. (If the picture and sound are clearer, that must mean the content is better!!!) Right?

Further, imagine living in a province where the Government leader chooses a few beers as his preferred evening entertainment, followed by staying home from work the next morning! A horrible dream? No, reality here and now! If you haven't guessed already, this is a part of the culture our children are growing up in right now!

Who has the power to help children recognize that there are alternatives? Who has the responsibility? WE DO! Why not introduce the idea that we have a Fine Arts community right here where we live? Encourage students to get to know the Art galleries that show local artists. Encourage them to visit a cafe that supports local musicians who play original music!

The Economics of being a Composer, Author or Artist

A composer may be commissioned occasionally to write a particular piece of music for a particular purpose. A set fee is agreed upon for the work. Most often, though, a composer writes music when inspiration hits, then must shop around for a publisher or a musical group willing to perform a new work. This can be time-consuming, expensive, and frustrating! A publisher must carefully select music that will sell to a wide audience. Performing groups must select music that will bring audiences back to their concerts. Much like the worlds of television and pop music, the "lowest common denominator" often determines what you get to see and hear. If I write a piece of music that is experimental, controversial or unusual, we're all unlikely to hear it unless it's on a program of "New Music".

Publishers of books and music give a standard 10% of sales to the creator of a work. When one of my pieces of choral music is published, I get about 10 cents for each copy that you buy. In the first six months of publication, "Kites" sold over 2,300 copies. This sounds pretty impressive at first, but the $230 U.S. hardly paid the rent during those six months, and doesn't begin to touch the cost of two years of looking for a publisher before the piece was accepted. If the lyrics and music were written by two different people, the 10% would become 5% each!

It may surprise you to learn that authors and illustrators are in the same boat! An interview with a respected Canadian poet on CBC recently uncovered the distressing news that many well-known Canadian poets and authors live near the poverty line!

Most countries have a "performing rights organization", which exists so that the creators of a musical work get paid if the music is performed professionally. The system is far from perfect, but through random sampling of concert programs and log-books kept by broadcasters, the organization determines which pieces of music are played frequently. Of course, contemporary "pop" music shows up the most, so this is where most of the dollars are directed!

Certainly there are the very few Musicians, Composers, Authors and Artists who are able to make a reasonable living creating their works full-time. Most work at another job to pay the bills, though, and are forced to relegate their Art to the few precious hours that are left.

How can you get to know more Canadian work, and support the Arts in Canada?

Look for the MAPL symbol on CDs and tapes. Each quarter of the circle indicates how much of the music is considered to be Canadian content.

M - Music
A - Artist
P - Place recording was done
L - Lyrics

Promote the Fine Arts programs in your school. Many important roles in musical and dramatic productions each year are performed by graduates of High Schools, Colleges and Universities with strong Choral Music and Drama programs. Would these students have the self-confidence and abilities for these roles without the practice that they gained in their school years? Would our local musical groups release their first CDs, be interviewed on local and national radio, and be performing throughout Western Canada if they hadn't met and learned together in their school Music classes?

Start making it a habit to listen to CBC radio. This, I am convinced, is one of the most important, one of the few ties that binds our country together! CBC Radio 1 (AM) will give you more of a local slant, and tends toward more familiar contemporary music. CBC-FM tends to be more on the serious, classical side, but both offer a wide selection of programming each day. Both are topical, and both will help to keep you aware of our national identity. Visit cbc.ca/audio.html to tune in with RealAudio. CKUA radio and CJSW radio both have a fascinating range of Canadian programming, too! Visit www.ckua.org/ and www.cjsw.com/ to hear!

Print out and keep the list of Canadian music and musicians. It is not complete, but it will give you a good list of music to explore. You won't like everything, but there are some gems in there that you may not yet have discovered!

Go to Canadian movies whenever you get a chance! We do have a Canadian film industry quite different from the Hollywood idea of cinema!

Go to Art galleries that show Canadian Art! There are galleries in every city that are open to the public. Have a first-hand look at what new Canadian artists are doing this year!

Do you know a child or student who appears to be totally tuned out or turned off? Try looking at some new Art or listening to a new piece of Music together. Even if you don't share the same opinions, you're bound to have something to talk about!

Do you want to get High-School students excited and involved in the discussion of current issues or poetry? Invite them to bring a current song on CD that discusses current issues! (You may want to preview these for language content!) If you can't reach them from your world, try to get them to explain their world to you!

Visit the Canadian Music Centre. Take someone to the annual Open House in November. Promote Canadian Music Week every November! Listen to something new!

The next time you're in a CD store, consider buying one Canadian CD that interests you. You might be surprised to discover that Canadians have some wonderful music!

Last but not least, if you are a member or director of a choir, I beg of you to BUY every piece of music from now on. Every page of music that is photocopied stops a new page of music from being written. The next time you want to own a new CD, please buy it instead of taping someone else's copy. The people that create music will thank you by creating more!

That's it for my bit of flag-waving today. The content of this page is not meant to disparage any other culture: simply to promote the fact that Canada has one that is struggling to be recognized by its own people. The opinions are my own.