Page 81 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 81
National Identification
in Canada
Two Chapters from Its Anglophone
Population’s Relations to the United States
of America
Marcello Potocco
The term ‘nation’ does not have a single definition in the Canadian En-
cyclopedia, but when referring to the common national identification,
there are two opposing notions, which indicate tensions between the Eng-
lish- and French-speaking communities when it comes to defining their
joint identity (Dunton and Couture 2011; Behiels 2011). On the one hand,
their relationship has been conceived as one of “two fighting nations in the
heart of a single country”; on the other hand, there is the definition of a
symbiotic “bicultural national character”. In search for identity, both lan-
guage groups have found themselves in a typical colonial conflict, caught
between the adopted old patterns and the reality of their new situation (cf.
Lee 1973). Especially (though not exclusively) for the English-speaking
community, the additional problem seemed to be the position which can
be described as twice colonial: Canada was in a position to have to define
its relations towards both Great Britain and the United States of Ameri-
ca; in this ‘triangle’, the relationship towards the latter turned out to be
the more challenging.
Up to the 20th century, the cultural unification on the territory of
today’s Canada was hindered by the absence of a common independent
state (New 1991, 24 et passim.; Keith 1990, 9). The conflict between the
two dominant language groups existed from the handover of colonial
lands from the French to the British, but partial unification took place
following the two burgeois revolutions, as both the Quebec communi-
ty and Tory loyalists rejected Republican ideas (New 1991, 29). Excep-
tionally ambiguous was the position of the French-speaking population,
who maintained the ties with the cultural tradition of their former moth-
in Canada
Two Chapters from Its Anglophone
Population’s Relations to the United States
of America
Marcello Potocco
The term ‘nation’ does not have a single definition in the Canadian En-
cyclopedia, but when referring to the common national identification,
there are two opposing notions, which indicate tensions between the Eng-
lish- and French-speaking communities when it comes to defining their
joint identity (Dunton and Couture 2011; Behiels 2011). On the one hand,
their relationship has been conceived as one of “two fighting nations in the
heart of a single country”; on the other hand, there is the definition of a
symbiotic “bicultural national character”. In search for identity, both lan-
guage groups have found themselves in a typical colonial conflict, caught
between the adopted old patterns and the reality of their new situation (cf.
Lee 1973). Especially (though not exclusively) for the English-speaking
community, the additional problem seemed to be the position which can
be described as twice colonial: Canada was in a position to have to define
its relations towards both Great Britain and the United States of Ameri-
ca; in this ‘triangle’, the relationship towards the latter turned out to be
the more challenging.
Up to the 20th century, the cultural unification on the territory of
today’s Canada was hindered by the absence of a common independent
state (New 1991, 24 et passim.; Keith 1990, 9). The conflict between the
two dominant language groups existed from the handover of colonial
lands from the French to the British, but partial unification took place
following the two burgeois revolutions, as both the Quebec communi-
ty and Tory loyalists rejected Republican ideas (New 1991, 29). Excep-
tionally ambiguous was the position of the French-speaking population,
who maintained the ties with the cultural tradition of their former moth-
