how stories define nationhood
The variety of different cultures represented in our stories is something rather recent. Most of the examples so far have been stories from the past five to ten years. In fact it is only in the last 50 years that we have seen the development of a unique Canadian voice without the need for British or American domination. That voice has now matured in a way that is richly varied and heavily textured. It is worth noting how this came about.
After World War II, Canada emerged for the first time as a legitimate world power, and in 1952, Canada's Lester Pearson served as president of the United Nations General assembly. Also in 1952 Vincent Massey became the first Canadian born Governor-General, representing the Queen in matters of state. That in itself may have nothing to do with storytelling, but the timing is very significant. Canada perceived itself as having grown up, and it is interesting to note the arts institutions that were initiated during this period: The Canadian Opera Company, 1950; The National Ballet of Canada, 1951; CBC Television, 1952; The Stratford Shakespearean Festival, 1953.
The National Film Board had been established in 1939 primarily as a communication tool for the war effort, but by 1952 it had matured enough to develop an independent voice. In that year that Norman McLaren could made the anti-war parable Neighbours. The film won an academy award, which gave McLaren and the NFB great credibility. It was also something to be proud of, and every nation must have a national pride. With the development of so many cultural institutions, Canadians could now look at all sorts of evidence that we indeed had a culture, and we ought to be proud of it.
Joy Coghill is a Canadian actor. Now seventy-six, she looks back and marvels at the realization that she is a pioneer. When she started, she says, all our stories were imported. Our writers were British or American. We still import a lot of culture, but now we can define ourselves as fundamentally different from either the United States or Great Britain. Every nation must have a cultural independence. That only came about after we deliberately created our own cultural institutions, and deliberately took control of our own stories.
Also after World War II ended, hundreds of thousands of people, who had put their personal lives on hold for six years, resumed their normal realtionships. Those relationships were clearly physical. Anyone who could, became pregnant. The resulting "baby boom" is still having its demographic effect, but in the 1950's it meant a vast audience of children hungry for new stories. Enter The Friendly Giant . For fifteen minutes every day, huge numbers of Canadian children heard the same story. By targetting the very young, CBC was sewing the seeds of a future nationalism. "Friendly" gave a whole generation of English speaking Canadians a way to identify other people who had a similar childhood with a shared experience. It is a code that only the initiated can read. Friendly's opening phrase "Look up... look waaaay up" still allows us to identify members of our community. Say that phrase to any Canadian under the age of 50, and the response will be "and I'll call Rusty." Instant recognition, instant bonding, instant trust. Those were powerful elements in the new nationalism, and they were being instilled in us as children.
Obviously this was an era of great energy, and it included universities as well. The education of new storytellers has gone hand in hand with this new cultural nationalism. It is no accident that the University of British Columbia's Frederic Wood Theatre began also in 1952. In the decade between 1947 and 1957 Canadian Literature emerged as a teachable subject in UBC's English department. The poet and teacher Earle Birney was pivotal in establishing UBC's Creative Writing program during the same era. Since then, our Department has grown to include Film as well as Theatre and Creative Writing. Our major commitment is to the exploration of various modes of storytelling in print, on stage and on the screen. The development of new work flowing from this commitment ensures an opportunity for the storytellers of tomorrow.
