WHO'S AFRAID OF CANADIAN CULTURE?

In Who's Afraid of Canadian Culture, a forceful case is made for rejecting the motherhood notion of cultural democratization and substituting concern for sensitive cultural diffusion and greater decentralization. Why is this? Simply because a mere increase in artistic activity will not sufficiently alter the basis cultural pattern in Canada which tends to favour the imported over the indigenous as well as the traditional over the contemporary. As a result, cultural decentralisation is advocated as a more genuine solution to the problem of rendering an indigenous flavour and autonomous nature to Canadian cultural accomplishment. In this way, local and regional touring of artistic activities and community cultural exchanges can act as more effective complements to national developments. Given the recent federal and provincial interest in these questions, the conclusions arrived at in this study could hardly be more timely.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The idea for this book was originally suggested to me by James Lorimer, who had seen the report I produced for the Programme in Art Administration at York University analysing the work preformed and promoted of arts organizations across the country. In the book, I expanded the list to include film, broadcasting and universities as well as the arts (theatre, music, dance and the visual arts). It is a snapshot of the state of Canadian culture at the time, detailing the entrenched indifference in official circles to the work created by Canadian artists. I wrote about the colonial mentality and American cultural imperialism, the history of cultural institutions and public policy, and the movement then afoot then to build Canadian-oriented institutions that would promote Canadian work. The book was trashed from coast to coast when it was published, but a lot has changed since then. What I was censored for saying on CBC radio in 1976 by 2005 had become the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity which Canada was instrumental in launching.

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Author: Susan Crean (as S. M. Crean)
Pages: 296
Subjects: Arts, Canadian. Art patronage Canada. Arts Canada. Art patronage. Civilization. Mass media Canada. Canada. Canada Culture. Canada Civilization

Publisher:General Pub. Co

Publication Year: 1976

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