Author Bio

Jonathan Vance holds the Canada Research Chair in Conflict and Culture in the Department of History at The University of Western Ontario. His books and articles include Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War (1997), High Flight: Aviation and the Canadian Imagination (2002), and Building Canada: People and Projects that Shaped the Nation (2006). He is currently exploring a new project on regional enlistment rates in Canada during the Great War.

INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN VANCE

We put Jonathan F. Vance to the test to find out what he really thinks about Canadian culture-past, present, and future. Here's how he responded.

The original manuscript was clearly far more than the story of books and ballet, but also talked about unexpected things like people being fired out of cannons and the 'free and easy' saloon. What gave you the idea of writing a book like this?

Having taught cultural history in the past, I knew all about the divide between high culture and low culture that we see throughout Canadian history. Cultural elites tended to view these two things as polar opposites, and perhaps even mutually exclusive, but I wanted to present the idea that they are just two parts of the same story - and in fact the differences between the two kinds of culture are not as great as we might imagine. What difference is there between a guy standing on his head on a horse as it rides around, and a thin woman in a tutu spinning around on her toes? When you get down to the essentials, the circus and the ballet are both pretty silly! But they both constitute a performance, they both have the power to give pleasure, and they both act as a kind of self-expression. I wanted this book to restore equality to all parts of culture.

The illustrations are also part of what makes this special. Love the attempt at a Hitler moustache in the picture of the 1944 Army Show broadcast. How did you decide what to include?

I think that the greatest enemy of Canadian culture over the years (or perhaps any culture) is earnestness - we have been conditioned to think of Canadian culture as something that's good for us, rather than something we should enjoy. As a result, we tend to take everything about it too seriously. I didn't want this book to take itself too seriously because, ultimately, enjoying culture is about having fun. So, whenever I had the chance with this book, I picked the fun detail over the earnest one!

What are your top 5 Canadian favourites?

    (In no particular order)
  • Great Big Sea
  • Stephen Leacock
  • Cornelius Krieghoff
  • The Chateau style of architecture
  • Corner Gas

Do you worry about what might happen to Canadian culture in this economic downturn? If you could give one piece of advice to government, what would that be?

Culture, and people who work in cultural industries, have proven to be remarkably resilient to downturns, economic or otherwise. In every slump, venues are lost, clubs close, and performers find other work, but there are always others coming along when the situation picks up. So I don't fear the extinction of Canadian culture. Having said that, governments shouldn't imagine that they have a licence to ignore the woes of cultural industries in tough times. They need to remember that culture fills two hugely important roles. First, it is an employer, and every dollar that goes into cultural funding has spin-off effects. Writing a cheque for a symphony orchestra is no different than bailing out a car company - if the objective is to save jobs and promote economic activity, both forms of support have the same impact. Second, people need culture during bad times more than ever. It provides a sense of community and a temporary escape from bad news - that's certainly what the Depression of the 1930s taught us.

What was the most shocking thing you learned about Canada when researching this book?

I was astonished at how difficult it was to make a living in the cultural industries in earlier decades (before there were all sorts of government support programs) - the number of artists of various kinds who lived well below the poverty line, but kept creating, was sobering. Any or all of them could have been forgiven for giving up the apparently thankless task of creating Canadian culture - I'm eternally grateful for the fact that more of them didn't.

Has the process of writing the book helped you see Canadian culture in a new light? How so?

I'll be the first to admit that I often took our culture for granted and didn't appreciate it enough - even though I taught Canadian culture, writing the book showed me how little I knew about the subject to begin with! I've turned into an aggressive booster of CanCon, as my friends and relatives will know.

If you had to describe Canadian culture in only three words, what would they be?

Quirky, self-deprecating, genuine. I tried to stay away from the conventional words, like 'strong' and 'vibrant.' I also avoided a phrase that I love, 'racy of the soil,' which was very popular to describe Canadian culture in the nineteenth century. I'm not exactly sure what it means, but I love it!

Canada has always been influenced by other nations, from governance to the arts. Are there any parts of our culture that you argue are uniquely Canadian?

I don't think that there's any such thing as a culture that is unique and untouched by outside influences - cultures flourish and develop through contact, not by being hermetically sealed. Having said that, there are lots of things that are 'uniquely Canadian' in various ways. I can't imagine anyone but a Canadian writing Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. I can't imagine any group but a Canadian group putting out a CD with TWO songs about horses falling through the ice on ponds.

Where do you see Canadian culture in 50 years?

I strongly believe that, during my lifetime, we as a society will recognize what the arts communities in other countries have known for years: that Canadian culture is strong, distinctive, vibrant, and hugely successful. We are enormously lucky in the state of our culture, and I can't wait for our society to recognize that!

You mention that due to length constraints, you could not discuss in great detail the works of some of the more famous Canadian artists. If you could do a spotlight on one of these artists, who would it be?

The more famous artists will always have their biographers, so if I could, I would much rather rescue someone from complete obscurity - a travelling painter who did decorative work and commissions to eke out a living, a graphic designer whose images were instantly recognizable to millions but whose name isn't, a music teacher in a rural community. Much of our culture is produced, not by the big names, but by the names we've never heard of - I'd love the chance to change that, at least in some small measure.

What is your favourite artistic genre?

I would have to say music - and only partly because of the almost visceral power it seems to exert over me. I also find it fascinating because it is so impermanent - we will never know what pre-Contact native music sounds like because it no longer exists. The same could be said for early folk songs. Of all the forms of culture, I found it the most difficult to get a grip on. I think this is why I enjoy it so much.

Is Canadian culture multinational? What do you say to the many first-generation Canadians who seem to relate more to their parents' culture than the culture here in Canada?

I think it has always been multinational, although in the seventeenth century that word didn't exist! And, there have always been first-generation Canadians who related more to the culture of their parents' homeland than to the culture of Canada - except 150 years ago, they came from Britain rather than the rest of the world. Those 'multinational' influences have been really important in shaping the Canadian culture that we enjoy today, and that process will continue - I think we should embrace it rather than lament it.

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