Regarding Canada as a "mosaic" rather than a "melting pot"

Another prevalent model of Canadian nationalism is that Canada is a "mosaic" rather than a "melting pot," the latter being a model upon which the United States is (arguably) based. The "mosaic" model is actually the policy of "multiculturalism," as instated in 1971, "where cultural difference is acknowledged and accomodated within the "mosaic" of national culture." But there is an argument that multiculturalism is "simply another way of entrenching separateness and marginalizing those not recognized as belonging to the dominant culture." Furthermore, the "mosaic" model:

views cultural inscriptions, and hence the notion of difference, as stable, coherent and autonomous. . . . In such a "multicultural" nation, differences are organized into neat, virtual grids of distinct ethnic communities, each with its own "culture."

The "melting pot" model (which is what is generally considered to be the American model of nation-building) refers to a "process of assimilation, where the different cultural and ethnic communities in a nation are conceived as coming together to create a new 'American' race or culture."

Source: Sharmani Patricia Gabriel, "'Between Mosaic and Melting Pot': Negotiating Multiculturalism and Cultural Citizenship in Bharati Mukherjee's Narratives of Diaspora," Postcolonial Text 1:2 (2005); available from http://postcolonial.org/index.php/pct/article/viewArticle/420/147; Internet; accessed 8 April 2008.

More about being "Canadian"

Harry Hillier talks about the evolution of thinking in terms of what constitutes the "nation" of Canada. From the country's inception, there was an idea that the political entity affiliated with Britain would bear its imprint (called anglo-conformity). This evolved into the two-nation view by 1960, when new accommodations between English and French in Canada were required. By the 1990s, the notions of a three-nation view emerged, with the "realization" of the prior presence of First Nations. So, in conclusion, the cores and essentials of Canadian nationality are no longer clear. (295)

Kieran Keohane suggests that "Canadian" is defined as manifested in a "way of life." In other words, "Canadian" is how we live. (19) He also suggests that there is an enjoyment of endurance hardwired into Canadians:

Throughout Canadian popular culture there are discourses that celebrate an enjoyment of endurance and a valuation of tolerance. (35)

There also exists a lack of particularity in the character of Canadians. (38)

Keohane writes:

At the heart of the symbolic order of Canada is a knot where endurance and enjoyment, and enjoyment of endurance of lack of particularity, are articulated. This knot of meanings supports values of tolerance and unpretentiousness. (40)

Of course, one of the common conceptions of Canada is that it is not the United States, and nor are Canadians all the same.

Finally, there is a friendly character of Canadian humour. We are not afraid of making fun of ourselves, with self-disclosure and self-deprication. (153-154)

Sources: Harry H. Hillier, Canadian Society: A Macro Analysis (Fifth Edition) (Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006); Hieran Keohane, Symptoms of Canada: An Essay on the Canadian Identity (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997).

Defining "Canadian-ness"

In an article that appeared in the Dominion paper, Susana Ferreira discusses how the definition of being "Canadian" is difficult (in the context of immigration, in particular), and that this difficulty is part of how one defines "Canadian":

The question of Canadian Identity is a familiar and prominent one. Canadians spend so much time agonizing over our lack of solid, touchable, definable identity that it has practically become a national pastime. Some would argue that it is this agonizing itself that best defines our national identity.

She goes on to suggest that a firm identity of who we are requires a firm identity of what we are not. I think that most would agree that Canadians certainly know what they are not, and that this knowledge does nothing to tell them who they are: Canadians are not American (or, to a much lesser extent, British or French).

Ferreira blames Canada's laissez-faire attitude regarding identity to the "broad embrace of Multiculturalism."

She outlines how "Canadian-ness" is built: "The process of nation-building is tied to space, language, education, and common or shared knowledge." For Ferreira, Multiculturalism is a barrier to a shared space, language, education and knowledge. She states, "Canadianness becomes something obtainable via assimilation to White, Western mindsets and practices."

Sumayya Kassamali and Usamah Ahmad continue with similar sentiments in suggesting that Canada is built on the ideals of tolerance, democracy and justice. They also identify the difficulties faced by immigrant communities even in a supposedly multicultural society.

Nationalism always works to shroud status quo relations and exploitation by constructing an imagined commune to which one must be emotionally and viscerally committed. There have thus been charges that if certain groups do not accept dominant mores, they have no reason to be here. We are forced into celebratory nationalism or are labeled "Enemies Within" who need to be exorcised (or deported).

While these two articles provide scathing criticisms of Canadian nationalism and especially multiculturalism, they point to inadequacies of the Canadian "imaginary," to borrow from Kassamali and Ahmad. Do other countries suffer with similar problems? Or perhaps as Ferreira suggests, "Canadian-ness" must make the Other suffer, and thus (I would argue) suffer itself, in order to remain "Canadian."

Sources: Susana Ferreira, "Multiculturalism: It Hurts Us All," The Dominion (6 November 2004); available from http://www.dominionpaper.ca/features/2004/11/06/multicultu.html; Internet; accessed 8 April 2008. Sumayya Kassamali & Usamah Ahmad, "Wounded Sentiments: Multiculturalism, the 'Toronto 17,' and the National Imaginary," The Peak 123:7 (19 June 2006); available from http://peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2006-2/issue7/fe-mus.html; Internet; accessed 8 April 2008.

I thought I would chime in...

I'm a bit late but I would like to congratulate Leslie Feist on winning 5 Juno awards this last weekend. I wasn't able to watch the telecast on Sunday night, but I did see many of her acceptance speeches on the CTV website (only after I downloaded the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in; Silverlight is MS's answer to Flash video). She seemed genuinely thankful to receive the recognition that came with the awards.

I'm writing about her right now, so she's on my mind.

Picture from REUTERS/Todd Korol (and here).

Winnipeg-bound

I'm pleased to announce that I've accepted the job as Assistant Professor in Communications and Media at Providence College & Seminary outside of Winnipeg. Very exciting!

My favourite comic

Post #151 and news

I'm pleased to announce that I've been offered a job as Assistant Professor in Communications and Media at Providence College & Seminary outside of Winnipeg.

Post #150 - and an update from the West

Back from Winnipeg, where I had a nice time meeting with professors and discussing the place of Communications and Media in the context of theology and Christianity. I should hear something later today about moving out there.

I'm very tired. I'm going to try to do something today - I have all kinds of things to do in the next 4 weeks (even if moving isn't one of them).

Happy Easter

I wish everyone reading a blessed Easter. This is the time of year that Christians remember the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, for our redemption and salvation. Thank God for His goodness.

I am off to Ottawa for the weekend and then flying out to Winnipeg. I will not be back until Wednesday, although breaks on this blog are no surprise. I hope to have some (good) news upon my return.

Approaching 150 posts

I'm very busy right now. I've had quite an eventful few days.

I'm off to Winnipeg to visit a school on Easter Monday, right after visiting my family in Ottawa. My Feist article has been accepted as a chapter in a book. I've been accepted to present a paper at the IASPM Canada conference at Brock University in May.

I still have that book review on the go as well as that piece for that national religious magazine (Friday was really productive).

I might be in the market for a laptop. It depends how today goes. I might require one for my little post-Easter trip.


(By the way, Friday wasn't productive at all, in case you didn't get my dry humour over the Internet)

I'm not feeling well (but here's a nice picture of my iPod)

Things are getting crazy here. I haven't been feeling 100% in the last few weeks, not sure why. I'm trying to get better before the next few weeks come upon me, as they may be a bit crazy.

I'm going to try to get another piece for a national religious publication out today. Thus far, none of my pieces have been approved for publication, but this one might.

I am half-way through a review of a book on authenticity and rock performance. I should be able to scrub that one together and get it out. Sometimes I just need to dedicate a relatively short time and just do what I need to. It's not that hard.

One of my chapters on Feist has been conditionally accepted for a book on Canadian popular music. The next 6 weeks will be filled with research for the revisions of that. I'm happy about this, though.

I was approached by a German publisher about publishing my dissertation. Apparently the only thing that separates this particular press from a "vanity press" is that it doesn't charge the author to publish the work (unlike something like Lulu.com), and it does pay royalties. The press also markets through amazon.com and other online retailers. The publication, though, is not peer-reviewed.

I've been advised against publishing this way, though another colleague told me to go ahead, publish with this press, and then concentrate on publishing new material. The above piece on Feist will be the first publication of new material, which might be a signal to publish the dissertation with the German press. I'll have to think about it.

By the way, the iPod arrived safe and sound

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense (as if). My brand new Project (RED) 1gig iPod Shuffle arrived by FedEx on Friday (after missing the delivery guy on Thursday). The little thing left China on Monday and arrived in Canada on Thursday. What a world traveller.

Some of you astute readers might remember that I had a shuffle before - a coveted Orange one. I returned it because of a perceived "hum." Alas, it seems that the hum is a "feature" of this model, and I now feel that I should have kept that beautiful little marvel. The price did go down, though, so I still come out a winner.

iPod moving

Larry Norman 1947-2008

Anyone who listens to what is now called Contemporary Christian Music should know the name Larry Norman. In 1969, Norman recorded Upon This Rock on Capitol Records, considered by many the first rock release that was also considered gospel music. He later went on to create the Solid Rock label, which had on its roster Randy Stonehill, Daniel Amos (the band), and Mark Heard, as well as others. So, I suppose that I owe him for my musical tastes. Although I own no Larry Norman recordings, his mark is left on the music of Stonehill and Daniel Amos. He was always a mysterious figure for me - there was always an air of controversy around him, especially because, when I was a teen, he and Stonehill (as well as all of the old Solid Rock people) were not talking. It seems that the various parties forgot their differences in recent years, although I know that the Daniel Amos people were trying to put together a reissue that was a bit undermined by the release of said reissue by Norman's people.

Details are silly, though, at this point. You can find more information around the Internet about Larry Norman, and even more about the controversies, and so forth. I know that I'll give some of his stuff a chance today, and I'll certainly pull out a copy of Stonehill's Welcome to Paradise in Larry Norman's honour.

New iPod Shuffle Tracking

I ordered myself an iPod Shuffle (Project (RED) version) from Apple and it's on its way to me. Funny that those in charge would send it straight from the factories in China instead of sending it from the Apple Store in Laval, about an hour and a half away by metro. I can expect to receive it at some point this week, I assume.

As for the Christmas CD, I still haven't received it. I again spoke to the store and I'm not going to initiate a charge-back with my credit card just yet. It's not really acceptable, though.

We might invest in a Dyson DC21 stowaway vacuum.

I think I'm getting a cold.

I'm starting to cough. I don't like that.

Did I mention that I'm really into photography? We were at my parents' house this weekend and I took some pictures. While I have learned an important principle in photography ("The quality of the camera makes much less of a difference than the quality of the photographer" - since most of my pictures are still pretty bad), I do enjoy it. I hope that at some point I'm able to take a few high quality pics. Right now I'm just learning how to control the aperture to make a blurry picture (with a subject in focus). I'm not sure that the aperture setting can go as low as I would like. But I don't know enough about the camera. It might be that I can zoom and then change the aperture. I have to play with the camera a bit.

It must be really exciting to read something from someone that actually doesn't know what they're talking about. But I'm getting better!

Mail woes continue with me. I ordered a Christmas CD at the beginning of December and it has yet to reach me. Perhaps it will arrive before next Christmas. I've been in touch with the store and I hope that they will resolve the issue soon (i.e. send me a new one).

Also, I sent an envelope by Canada Post expresspost on Thursday to Manitoba and it hasn't arrived, according to tracking HQ. I'm really not impressed. I could have sent it regular, instead of being ripped off of $15 by sending it express. As long as it gets there. Right now, it's who knows where.

Here's a picture of an RCA Victor SHC667 Integrated Amp (circa 1961) that I am interested in (i.e. getting my cousin to fix for me so that I can gloat). It has tubes!

SSHRC bid unsuccessful

I received the letter from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada today, announcing that my bid for a 2008 postdoctoral fellowship was unsuccessful. The success rate was 25.2% this year, and the letter suggests that there were 676 applicants trying for funding.

I did receive 2 points more than I did last year (that's a 6.7% increase from last year's score!). This was reflected in the "Track Record" portion of the ratings, rather than the "Program of Work" (or proposal) portion. The latter actually scored slightly lower than last time, which is strange considering I worked on that part to improve it.

FQRSC, my next chance for postdoctoral funding, announces results in April.

I'm lonely already

My wife is leaving for Hamilton as her grandfather has passed away. Although I do have experience living alone, I'm a bit lonely right now, and she hasn't even left the city yet!

I'll be praying for her and her family this weekend.

Photography

My cousin told me that I should consider becoming a professional photographer. I'm not sure if it's the quality of the photos (in terms of composition) or the fact that I "look" like a photographer.

Anyway, here are a couple of shots of me in "photography" mode.



(The second photo was flipped in a very inelegant way, importing the 10 megapixel image into Apple Pages, flipping the photo horizontally, and then taking a screen capture to .jpg and uploading it here.)

A Picture for Lent

I went to a Lenten service today at the Prebyterian church in downtown Montreal, after a Bible study on 1 Peter chapter 5. Before the chapel service, I took a quick picture of the tapestry that hangs there with my new camera. It isn't the most wonderful photo in the world, but it's not bad.



The service was very nice. The sermon was excellent (very thought provoking, exploring the modernist notion that all religions are the same). The Bible study was also quite stimulating, and although there was a bit of discussion, there wasn't the real "getting off the rails" that there sometimes is when attending such discussions. The church also has a lunch after the chapel services during Lent. I didn't go today (part of me is thinking that not eating lunch on Thursdays might be my Lenten sacrifice), but I might go next week.

By the way, I submitted a proposal for a conference in Vancouver in the early summer, but the proposal was rejected. I was hoping to present at that conference.

No word on the electric train set yet.