Having finally decided to cancel my most demanding course, I’m back to life and back to my own blog. And I can still attend interesting lectures that I don’t need for my studies in Frankfurt. These lectures are called “Transportation Planning”, “Introduction to Italian Cinema, Literature and Society” and “Introduction to Canadian Studies”. The latter provides interesting insides into the history and culture of Canada.
Canada. What do you think of first when you hear the name of this country? Wilderness? Snow? Infinite distances? Yes? Then the national myths have been successful in convincing you that Canada is a country of wilderness and a “country of the North”.
About 90% of the Canadians live not further than 100 km away from the US border. Parts of South Ontario share the same longitude as North California. Toronto shares the same longitude as Florence. You can find cactuses at Lake Erie. No, Canada is not first of all a country of the North. But the values of the North, innocence and purity, are something positive most other countries don’t have. So why not branding yourself as a country of the North? Naming your football teams “Edmonton Eskimos” and laughing on yourself with the great satire “Great White North”. What an education, eh?
Ok, “country of the North” is a myth. But what about the wilderness? Hasn’t that former Premier Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau done these long canoe trips? Aren’t there bears and deers all over the country? And what about the wild landscape pictures of the Group of Seven, branded as the most important painters of Canada by the National Art Gallery?
Well, most Canadians live in cities, only a few of them are living in “wilderness”. Already in the times of the Group of Seven, most Canadians lived in cities. So did the painters! They took sketches in the summer in the countryside, but most of their work has been done in a studio in downtown Toronto.
Ok, wilderness and North are national myths. But what about hockey? Isn’t Canada THE hockey nation? Haven’t they won the Hockey Summit Series 1972 against USSR? This important symbolic fight of free world against socialism which some say it is “a key moment in Canada’s history” (according to the lecture by Dr. Peter Stevens)?
Well, the 1972 Summit Series is an important part of Canada’s history. But Canada lost the series 1974 against USSR; Canada didn’t win the world cup between 1972 and 1994; USSR won seven times in a row.
Isn’t it always like this? Look at Germany and the “Wunder von Bern” 1954. It’s part of our history, being an important nation again almost ten years after the end of the war. But: Germany didn’t take part in the 1950 FIFA world cup, we lost the semi-final against Sweden in 1958, we lost the quarter final against Yugoslawia in 1962 and so on. But hey, 1954 is part of our history, the rest is forgotten.
Back to Canada: if it is not the North, not the wilderness and not hockey that makes Canada so special, what is it then? Very easy: it is not being the USA! Canadians believe that Americans believe that Canadians live in igloos. So they always have to proof that they are neither Americans nor escimos. When Canadians are looking for something “unique”, in fact they are looking for something separating from America. You don’t believe me? Enjoy this beer commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI-A3vakVg
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen