scholarly journals The CBC's "Seven wonders of Canada" : exclusionary aspects of a project of national identity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Starzynski
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Major Research ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
National Space

The topic of my major research paper is national identity in the context of cultural pluralism. The paper has as its goal a socio-cultural analysis of national belonging. Immigration policy as gateway has, historically, excluded certain groups from entry to the country; nationalisms have prevented some of those who have gained entry to the country from gaining entry to the nation. I argue that the CBC's"Seven Wonder of Canada" campaign is one such nationalism, revealing nationalist tropes which include the cultural centre's longstanding tradition of identifying with the landscape and its more recent tradition of identifying with multicultural ideology - in its construction of national identity. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates that the campaign reflects an a-historic notion of national identity in which both geography and multiculturalism are used by the cultural centre to exclude. The construction of an exclusionary notion of national identity is necessarily challenged by notions of cultural pluralism. In the context of imbalanced power relations, mainstream Canadians, the cosmopolite and the Other vie for a share of national space.

scholarly journals The CBC's "Seven wonders of Canada" : exclusionary aspects of a project of national identity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Starzynski
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Major Research ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
National Space

The topic of my major research paper is national identity in the context of cultural pluralism. The paper has as its goal a socio-cultural analysis of national belonging. Immigration policy as gateway has, historically, excluded certain groups from entry to the country; nationalisms have prevented some of those who have gained entry to the country from gaining entry to the nation. I argue that the CBC's"Seven Wonder of Canada" campaign is one such nationalism, revealing nationalist tropes which include the cultural centre's longstanding tradition of identifying with the landscape and its more recent tradition of identifying with multicultural ideology - in its construction of national identity. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates that the campaign reflects an a-historic notion of national identity in which both geography and multiculturalism are used by the cultural centre to exclude. The construction of an exclusionary notion of national identity is necessarily challenged by notions of cultural pluralism. In the context of imbalanced power relations, mainstream Canadians, the cosmopolite and the Other vie for a share of national space.

Nation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Castiglia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ideology Critique ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
European Culture ◽  
The Cold War

Taking the Cold War state to be the origin of diffused suspicion, abstract enemies, and totalizing explanations, this chapter contends that contemporary ideology critique—based on the same dispositions—melancholically reproduces rather than challenges Cold War epistemologies. As an alternative, the chapter offers the practice of hope Granville Hicks and Constance Rourke developed around the empty signifiers nation, exceptionalism, and activism, concepts most often targeted by New Americanists (and New Historicists in general). Hicks argued for two Americas, one synonymous with capitalism and hence worthy of critique, and the other based on local communities that use nationhood to organize against capitalism and the models of national exceptionalism it requires. For Hicks, patriotism is an organizing concept for the economically disadvantaged majority who are weakened by their denied access to rhetorics of national belonging. Constance Rourke, turning to folkways that transform European culture into something distinctly American, focused on the specificity of cultures produced by distinctive communities within the United States, yet she used the particularity of cultural formations as the basis, rather than simply a renunciation, of national identity.

scholarly journals Being inclusive when talking about diversity

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 26-38
Author(s):  
Silje Andresen
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Norwegian School ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Central Arena

This paper explores how discourses of national identity are managed in one of Norway’s core institutions – the educational system. As Norway changed into a multi-ethnic society, classrooms became a central arena for individuals with different religious and ethnic backgrounds to meet. How boundaries of ‘Norwegianness’ are managed in the classroom is therefore of importance. Based on a thematic analysis of observations of classroom lessons and interviews with teachers in schools in Oslo, I argue that teachers navigate between several different yet overlapping discourses of 'being Norwegian'. Using the theoretical framework of bright and blurred boundaries and different understandings of ‘Norwegianness’, I show how teachers manage different discourses rooted in citizenship, cultural traditions, values, ethnic boundaries or Whiteness. These discourses can be activated simultaneously in society and in the classroom. However, the Norwegian school system’s core value of equality and inclusiveness gives precedence to the discourse based on citizenship. To manage the other discourses, teachers use different strategies when addressing boundaries along different dimensions of national belonging.

scholarly journals The original roots man: landscape, nationalism and dress

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariana Ho
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Group Of Seven ◽  
Gender Space ◽  
Emily Carr

The landscape paintings of Canadian artist Tom Thomson have long been a part of the Canadian canon of art. The Group of Seven, Emily Carr and Tom Thomson have produced images of the Canadian wilderness that continue to capture the imagination of Canadians to this day. After nearly a hundred years since the passing of Tom Thomson in 1917, the mythology surrounding the artist continues to develop as he plays an important role within Canadian cultural memory and consciousness as a quintessential Canadian icon. Some scholars have argued that the Thomson myth has less to do with the art that he produced, and have more to do with the prevalent ideas and values that were projected onto his life after his mysterious death at Canoe Lake. In the summer of 2014, Canadian lifestyle brand Roots Canada Ltd. released the Tom Thomson collection, which sought to recognize the artist’s life and works, as the “Original Roots Man”. The narrative revolving around Tom Thomson, national identity and the wilderness may appear to truly represent Canadian life and reality given its repetition within discourses of mass culture and in the recent Roots collection. However, as this Major Research Paper (MRP) proposes, the Thomson myth speaks of larger themes having to do with how Canadians think about identity, gender, space and history and their place in it. This MRP explores the convergence of nationalism, antimodernism, the differentiation of space, and the commodification of heritage through Roots’ 2014 Tom Thomson Collection. Ultimately, this MRP argues that the Roots Tom Thomson Collection serves as an example of the commodification of heritage that provides a limited vision of Canada.

scholarly journals The original roots man: landscape, nationalism and dress

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariana Ho
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Group Of Seven ◽  
Gender Space ◽  
Emily Carr

The landscape paintings of Canadian artist Tom Thomson have long been a part of the Canadian canon of art. The Group of Seven, Emily Carr and Tom Thomson have produced images of the Canadian wilderness that continue to capture the imagination of Canadians to this day. After nearly a hundred years since the passing of Tom Thomson in 1917, the mythology surrounding the artist continues to develop as he plays an important role within Canadian cultural memory and consciousness as a quintessential Canadian icon. Some scholars have argued that the Thomson myth has less to do with the art that he produced, and have more to do with the prevalent ideas and values that were projected onto his life after his mysterious death at Canoe Lake. In the summer of 2014, Canadian lifestyle brand Roots Canada Ltd. released the Tom Thomson collection, which sought to recognize the artist’s life and works, as the “Original Roots Man”. The narrative revolving around Tom Thomson, national identity and the wilderness may appear to truly represent Canadian life and reality given its repetition within discourses of mass culture and in the recent Roots collection. However, as this Major Research Paper (MRP) proposes, the Thomson myth speaks of larger themes having to do with how Canadians think about identity, gender, space and history and their place in it. This MRP explores the convergence of nationalism, antimodernism, the differentiation of space, and the commodification of heritage through Roots’ 2014 Tom Thomson Collection. Ultimately, this MRP argues that the Roots Tom Thomson Collection serves as an example of the commodification of heritage that provides a limited vision of Canada.

Curriculum wars: national identity in education

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Murray
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
International Aid ◽  
The Other ◽  
Politics Of Education ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Humanitarian Response ◽  
Building Process ◽  
External Actors

This paper explores the politics of education in countries affected by conflict. Drawing particularly on the Palestinian experience, it looks at the power relations among internal and external actors that shape the curriculum-building process. In the increasingly politicised world of international aid, especially in the Middle East, it challenges the idea that international agencies and donors can take a neutral approach to education. Unlike the other three pillars of humanitarian response – food, health and shelter – education is never neutral, it is intrinsically ideological and political.

scholarly journals I bassäng med nationen - när simmande kroppar blir gemenskap

2018 ◽  
pp. 47-59
Author(s):  
Mathilda Ernberg
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Limited Space ◽  
Race And Sexuality ◽  
Postcolonial Feminist

Swimming with the nation – when swimming bodies become communityIn this article, national belonging is discussed and demonstrated as a political and historical situated project through an examination of contemporary debates concerning the possibility of gender-segregated opening-hours in Danish bath-houses. Drawing on postcolonial feminist understandings, the article shows how these debates relate to otherness, diversity and national identity. Further, the debates can be seen as part of political and national interests and power-relations, where a (hi)story of progress and development is being used to establish certain hierarchies and feelings of superiority, especially in relation to gender, race, and sexuality. The article finds these interests manifested in, and though, perceptions and constructions of agency and certain bodies, limited space for agency and being.

From Fieldwork to Research Theory on an Indian Pilgrimage

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rémy Delage
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
South India ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Research Hypothesis ◽  
Sources Of Knowledge ◽  
The One

Using as the example of the pilgrimage to Sabarimala (Kerala, South India), I propose here to explore the links existing between sources, research hypothesis and research theory in social sciences. The choice of research materials in the process of investigation, sources of knowledge about the studied object, is not mere random sampling; it is processed in accordance with the questions of the researcher. It inevitably assumes a selective dimension. After a critical reading of the sources used by Indian studies, I will highlight on the connections between the sources and the methodological tools on the one hand, and the major research hypothesis about pilgrimage on the other. The links between the data taken from the field and the legitimacy of scientific discourse on India will be examined at the end before providing some keys for the interpretation of Sabarimala phenomenon in South India during the contemporary period.

Multicultural and Transnational Novels

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Meffan
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
The Other ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Return Home ◽  
Access Rights ◽  
The One

This chapter discusses the history of multicultural and transnational novels in New Zealand. A novel set in New Zealand will have to deal with questions about cultural access rights on the one hand and cultural coverage on the other. The term ‘transnational novel’ gains its relevance from questions about cultural and national identity, questions that have particularly exercised nations formed from colonial history. The chapter considers novels that demonstrate and respond to perceived deficiencies in wider discourses of cultural and national identity by way of comparison between New Zealand and somewhere else. These include Amelia Batistich's Another Mountain, Another Song (1981), Albert Wendt's Sons for the Return Home (1973) and Black Rainbow (1992), James McNeish's Penelope's Island (1990), Stephanie Johnson's The Heart's Wild Surf (2003), and Lloyd Jones's Mister Pip (2006).

Palestinian Refugees between the City and the Camp

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-621
Author(s):  
Faedah M. Totah
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
Palestinian Refugees ◽  
Social Distinction ◽  
Urban Refugees ◽  
Old City ◽  
Refugee Experience ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

AbstractThe camp and the city are both important for understanding the relationship between space and identity in the refugee experience of exile. In the Palestinian example, the camp has emerged as a potent symbol in the narrative of exile although only a third of refugees registered with UNRWA live in camps. Moreover, the city and urban refugees remain missing in most of the scholarship on the Palestinian experience with space, exile, and identity. Furthermore, there is little attention to how refugees understand the concept of the city and camp in their daily life. This article examines how Palestinian urban refugees in the Old City of Damascus conceptualized the relationship between the camp and the city. It illustrates how the concept of the camp remained necessary for the construction of their collective national identity while in Syria. However, the city was essential in the articulation of individual desires and establishing social distinction from other refugees. Thus, during a protracted exile it is in the interstice between the city and the camp, where most urban refugees in the Old City situated themselves, that informed their national belonging and personal aspirations.

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