Culture of Canada

The culture of Canada, as a product of a North American developed nation, shares some common cultural roots with the United States. While the two countries share some aspects of a common cultural heritage, there is also a separately identifiable Canadian culture. Some distinctions of this culture are the greater integration of Native influences, the retention of traditions descended from those of French settlers, and a notable infusion of Celtic elements.

Occasionally, the distinctions of these elements in Canada is disputed as a separate culture. 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 identities of the English-speaking 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 know of Margaret Laurence and Atom Egoyan than Americans.

Art

Main article: Art in Canada

Literature

See also: Canadian literature and List of Canadian writers

Canadian theatre

Main article: Theatre in Canada

Canada has a thriving stage theatre scene, especially in Southern Ontario and in Quebec. Theatre festivals draw many tourists in the summer months, especially the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford 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. Canada also boasts the world's second largest live theatre festival, the Edmonton Fringe Festival.

Film and television

Main article: [[:Cinema of Canada and Television in Canada]]

See also: Cinema of Quebec

The Canadian film market was dominated by the American film industry for decades. In the 1960s Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault, Gilles Groulx, Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, Arthur Lamothe, Claude Jutra and other filmmakers from Quebec began to challenge Hollywood by making innovative and politically relevant documentary and feature films. Among the important English-speaking filmmakers from this period are Allan King, Norman Jewison and Robin Spry. Michael Snow continues to be one of the most respected experimental film makers in the world. Norman Jewison received an Irving Thalberg Academy Award in recognition for his lifetime achievement in film in 1999.

Canada has developed 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 (The Fly, Naked Lunch, A History of Violence). Also, the distinct French-Canadian society permits the work of directors such as Denys Arcand and Denis Villeneuve. However given Canada's small population and perhaps, because of the closeness of the giant American TV and film industries, distinctively Canadian productions such as those in TIFF's List of Canada's Top Ten Films of All Time are relatively thin on the ground, compared with the situations in the United Kingdom. However, Lion's Gates Films and Alliance Atlantis are two film production companies headquartered in Canada which have grown large enough to compete with larger American productions down south. In addition, because of the intricate relationship between the American and Canadian film industry, numerous films such as David Cronenberg's A History of Violence (2005) are often credited as both Canadian films by Canadian publications and as American films by American publications due to differing definitions of what constitutes a Canadian or American film by each country.

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 recognized 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, the 2003 version of Battlestar Galactica, and The Outer Limits. The American Queer as Folk is filmed in Toronto. Since the 1980s, Canada, and Vancouver in particular, has become known as Hollywood North. As with its southern counterpart in California, USA, many Canadians are employed in the film industry, and celebrity-spotting is frequent throughout many Canadian cities. 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 allegedly due to cost, rather than a requirement for a 'Canadian atmosphere'. The frequent question of a Canadian, seeing a film crew on his or her local streets, is 'Which bit of the States 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 dictate that a certain percentage of a domestic broadcaster's transmission time 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.

National Film Board of Canada [1], is 'a public agency that produces and distributes films and other audiovisual works which reflect Canada to Canadians and the rest of the world'.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is considered by many to be one of the most prevalent film festivals for Western cinema.

Canada has produced many film and television stars, newscasters, directors and producers including: Pamela Anderson, Brent Butt, Jim Carrey, Michael J. Fox, Lorne Greene, Peter Jennings, Norman Jewison, Eugene Levy, Lorne Michaels, Rick Moranis, Mike Myers, Keanu Reeves, William Shatner, Martin Short, Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland, Jessica Tandy, Alan Thicke and Alex Trebek.

In addition, many popular political documentaries such as Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent, The Corporation and Bowling for Columbine involved Canadian production and funding.

Comedy

Main article: Canadian humour

Canadian TV is noted for cutting political satire such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer Report, 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, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Catherine O'Hara, and others. The team of creators for SCTV including Lorne Michaels were later transplanted in New York City to create Saturday Night Live.

Other Canadian comics and comedy groups include Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Martin Short, Tom Green, Dan Aykroyd, Leslie Nielsen, CODCO (the precursors to This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Maggie Cassella, and Elvira Kurt. The Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal is the world's largest comedy festival.

Canadian humour tends to translate better via 'sketch comedy' rather than the primarily US 'sitcom' format, although solo stand-up is equally important.

Canadian humour is often defined as being not as 'punchline-friendly' as its American counterpart, but not as 'off-the-wall' as its UK counterpart.

Music

See also: Music of Canada

Canada has developed its own brands of traditional music, including the French, Irish and Scottish-derived Cape Breton fiddle 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 Ottawa 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.

The Canadian music industry has been helped by government regulation designed to protect and encourage the growth of distinct Canadian culture. The Canadian Content (CANCON) regulations force all radio stations in Canada to play at least 35% Canadian music. This has enabled Canadian artists to garner success on the airwaves which were once dominated by American and European acts. Now it is common to hear several Canadian songs on the radio every hour you listen.

In the realm of popular music, Canada has produced a variety of internationally successful performers, including (alphabetically): Bryan Adams, Annihilator, Paul Anka, The Arrogant Worms, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Band, Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo, Broken Social Scene, , Michael Bublé, Terri Clark, Bruce Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, Stompin' Tom Conners, Cowboy Junkies, Céline Dion, Cryptopsy, D.O.A., Nelly Furtado, Matthew Good, Glenn Gould, Robert Goulet, Great Big Sea, Guess Who, Ronnie Hawkins, k-os, Diana Krall, k.d. Lang, Avril Lavigne, Félix Leclerc, Gordon Lightfoot, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette, Anne Murray, Oscar Peterson, Rush, Hank Snow, Steppenwolf, David Clayton Thomas, The Tragically Hip, Shania Twain, Gilles Vigneault, Rufus Wainwright, and Neil Young.

Symbols

See also: Canadian identity

Official symbols of Canada include the maple leaf, beaver, and common loon. Many official symbols of the country such as the Flag of Canada have been changed or modified over the past few decades in order to 'Canadianize' them and de-emphasise or remove references to the United Kingdom. Symbols of the monarchy in Canada continue to be featured in, for example, the Coat of Arms of Canada and armed forces Her Majesty's Canadian Ship. The designation 'Royal' remains for institutions as varied as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Aboriginal effects

There were and are many distinct Aboriginal peoples across Canada, each with its own culture, language and history. Much of this artistic legacy remains celebrated in Canada to this day. The emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is the inukshuk, a stack of rocks in human form that is a part of Inuit culture. [2]

See also

• Canadian Cultural Protectionism
• Canadian Nationalism
• Canadian architecture

External links

• Culture.CA: Canadian cultural portal online
• Canadian Studies: A Guide to the Sources