Totems and Rituals on Global Stage
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Totems and rituals on global stage The performance of the Canadian identity at the Vancouver Winter Games Pauline de Groot Student number: 372257 [email protected] Master Thesis Kunst & Cultuurwetenschappen Supervisor: Dr. L. Braden Second reader: T.J. Hoebink MA Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication Erasmus University Rotterdam August 1, 2013 Table of Contents Page: Foreword 4 1. Introduction 5 2. Theoretical Framework 9 2.1 Durkheim and his use of rituals and totems 9 2.2 Anderson, imagined communities and the performance of national identity 11 2.3 Why the Olympic Games? 13 2.4 Why Canada? 15 2.5 Significance of this research 17 3. Data and Methodology 19 3.1 Data 19 3.2 Methodology 23 4. Findings 26 4.1 Awareness of a global stage 26 5. Canada as a multicultural, diverse, and inclusive country 29 5.1 The Aboriginal people and culture in Canada 31 5.2 Canada’s immigrants 35 5.3 The French language and the Quebec culture 36 5.3.1 Bilingualism in Canada 36 5.3.2 The French-Canadian people and their culture 40 5.4 Women 45 5.5 Conclusion 45 6. Canada as a sport-minded and sport-loving country 47 6.1 Canadian athletes 48 6.2 Ice hockey - The Canadian sport 51 6.2.1 Canada’s cold climate and geography 52 6.2.2 Battle against other nations 53 6.2.3 Battle against the USA 53 6.3 Sport facilities in Canada 54 6.4 Canadians as fanatic sport fans 55 6.5 Conclusion 58 7. Canada as a modern and well-developed country 60 7.1 Canada, a modern country 60 7.1.1 Modern facilities in Canada 60 2 7.1.2. Living standards in Canada 61 7.2 Technology used at the Vancouver Games 62 7.2.1 Spectacle in the Ceremonies 62 7.3 Performances of famous Canadians 64 7.3.1 Canadian institutions 65 7.4 Sustainable Olympic Games 67 7.5 Conclusion 69 8. Geography of Canada 70 8.1 Canadian nature 70 8.2 Canadian climate 73 8.3 Conclusion 75 9. Counterpoints towards the performed Canadian image 77 9.1 Canada as a multicultural, diverse, and inclusive country 77 9.1.1. The Aboriginal people and culture in Canada 77 9.1.2 Canada’s immigrants 82 9.1.3 Lack of the French language and the Quebec culture 84 9.2 Ice hockey – The Canadian sport? 86 9.3 Canadian climate 87 9.4 Conclusion 88 10. Conclusion 90 11. Discussion 96 Literature 98 List of Figures 109 Glossary of Abbreviations 114 3 Foreword After my semester abroad at McGill University in Montreal in 2011, Canada has kept my interest and fascination. The beautiful nature and the friendly people overwhelmed me. I was surprised to notice both the big differences and the many similarities with the United States. Both countries know an interesting and quite ‘short’ history. The fact that Canada has its own flag since 1965 made me realise that Canada is still ‘growing up’. The creation and composition of Canada’s national identity and heritage is part of this growing up. I was astonished by the documentary I saw within the scope of the course ‘Quebec studies’ that showed the disadvantages the Canadian Aboriginals have to deal with. It showed the development of the government-owned corporation Hydro Quebec. It showed how water of original indigenous land is used to provide energy for the whole province whereas the natives now have to walk many miles further in order to even get some drinking water. Was this really happening in Canada? The country where all people were so nice and where helping me with my suitcases and with finding my way around the city? Both my experience and interest in Canada, my interest in the creation of (national) stories and my interest in sports are combined in this thesis. I found it really interesting to examine how Canadian stories are founded and how they are reaffirmed and re-enacted throughout such an event as the Olympic Games. During my work, I have encountered various examples of the performance of national identities on global stage and of the challenges that accompany this performance. This really motivated me and confirmed me that my research is really up-to-date and can be an interesting addition in the discussion on national identity. I would like to thank my supervisor Laura Braden. She was a good support and always motivated me. In the beginning my ideas and plans for this thesis were kind of vague and unclear but with her help I have made the chaos, which always accompanies the start of a thesis, into a cohesive and scientific research. I want to thank her for that. With her enthusiasm and help, she made it more pleasant to work on this sometimes difficult but always really interesting project. Next to Laura, I would like to thank my parents, Jasmijn, and Alex for the support during this thesis and in general for the support I receive from them in everything I do. Overall, I am very content with the final result. This thesis was a very interesting and instructional project on which I have worked with a lot of pleasure. 4 1. Introduction As one can already read in the texts of Emile Durkheim published a century ago, people are always looking to be a part of something and searching for the feeling of belonging to a community. Durkheim examined religious communities. In my thesis I look at nations as communities, for which I have used the theory of Benedict Anderson (2006 [1983]). He is describing nations as imagined communities. The borders of countries are not based on natural or geographical facts but on inventions and conventions. Therefore, one can state that the concept of a nation is an invented one, created over time and history. This, however, does not mean that the research on nations can be taken less seriously or that national identity can be written off as fiction, for as “the very fact that it [national identity] has been used to define the situation of states makes it real in its consequences” (Lechner, 2007, cited in Van Hilvoorde, Elling & Stokvis, 2010, p. 91). This citation explains why I can use national identities and imagined communities as a stable research object in this thesis. The fact that this invention has real consequences for states and its citizens makes the concept of national identity an interesting research object to examine. National identity is a booming business nowadays. Even though we have become more familiar with concepts of the world as a global village (McLuhan & Powers, 1992 [1989]) and of the world getting smaller and smaller, these consequences of the globalisation have their impacts on national feelings as well. The other side of this increased globalisation is namely that countries are searching for and focusing on their national identity (Tomlinson, 1999a+b). In our ‘global village’ nowadays, countries are looking for something that binds them together as a nation. Jackie Hogan, professor in sociology at Bradley University, states this as well in her article about discourses on gender and ethnicity in the portrayal of national identity in Olympic Opening Ceremonies’: “At the same time, the cultural and political dynamics of globalization have created perceived threats to national self-determination, which in turn have sparked vigorous assertions of national identity in locations around the globe” (2003, p. 103). In this quotation, Hogan states the interrelation of the rise of globalisation and the emphasis on national identity. Consequently, issues of national identity and cultural heritage are an increasingly important upcoming issue and research field in this time of globalisation. Nowadays, people are less connected with each other. People are spending more time in front of their computer and television. A survey of Statistics Canada in 2005 pointed out 5 that the spare time of Canadians was mostly filled with watching television and other passive leisure. This way of spending leisure time occurred 12% more than the leisure time spend on socializing. Nowadays, socializing is more happening over the Internet. Facebook and other social media create new communities online and are very popular these days. However, in a study on Facebook, Franck Dumortier, researcher at the Research Centre for Computer and Law at the University of Namur in Belgium, describes the simplification of the social relations on these social media. He also states that an average user has approximately 120 ‘friends’ on Facebook (2010). So the number of friendships people can have on Facebook often exceeds the number of friendships one could possibly maintain in ‘real’ life. Through these developments on the Internet, one can be connected with people and issues worldwide without really knowing them or maintaining the relationship. These issues can contribute to the feeling of constant expansion and fragmentation of society. Through this feeling of expansion and fragmentation, it can be difficult to experience feelings of belonging and connection with the community in which you live. This concern to belong to a group, however, is not a recent development. The creating and importance of distinctive communities is a phenomenon that can be seen in all different groups of people throughout history and worldwide. As Durkheim’s research points out, also in Aboriginal tribes, people were creating communities and groups to be part of with their own rituals and habits (2008 [1912]). In earlier times, however, communities were limited by languages, history or culture. In the increasing global and multi-cultural society one lives in nowadays, these are less accessible biding factors.