Hockey and Spectacle: Critical Reflections on Canadian Culture
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UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Hockey and Spectacle: Critical Reflections on Canadian Culture By Peter Zuurbier A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS CALGARY, ALBERTA JULY, 2011 Peter Zuurbier 2011 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-81959-3 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-81959-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Abstract Canada possesses few symbolic markers to build any unified conception of national identity around. Spectacle has played a distinct role in the development and maintenance of Canadian identity for decades. Televised professional hockey is a crucial component of the spectacle. For Canadians the ritualized viewing of professional hockey on television over generations has ingrained the spectacle within traditional notions of hockey mythology. The Canadian hockey spectacle is the subject for examination in this thesis. Theories surrounding spectacle and myth are harmonized and applied to two recent game-texts. The results indicate a great deal of celebration and affirmation of notions traditionally found in Canadian hockey mythology. Moments of contestation were examined for their efficacy in re-shaping Canadian hockey discourse within the spectacle. Finally, the notion of contestation is interrogated and deemed an extension of the logic of contemporary spectacle, encouraging deeper captivation. ii Acknowledgements Foremost, I would like to express the profound gratitude I feel towards my thesis supervisor, Dr. David Taras, who saw something in me I didn’t see myself. Dr. Taras provided me with the latitude to write and think freely, and possessed the vision to sharpen my focus when necessary. His advice is invaluable and the generosity of his time, energy, and spirit is truly humbling. I was fortunate enough to also benefit from the wisdom of Dr. Charlene Elliott, who has assumed innumerable vital roles in my life during my graduate studies. This thesis would not have been possible without her resolute support of both me, and my work. I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to: Dr. Rebecca Sullivan, Dr. Maria Bakardijeva, Dr. Bart Beaty, Dr. Brian Rusted, Dr. Barbara Schneider, Dr. Richard Sutherland, Dr. Christine Sutherland, Dr. Gwen Blue, Dr. Avril Torrence, and Dr. Lee Easton. Each made a unique contribution to my scholarship, and my work would not be shaped as it is without their influence. My graduate studies would not have even been possible were it not for the persistence of Dr. David Mitchell, Lynne Perras, Megan Mitchell, Marion Hillier, and Denise West-Spencer. All of them fought vigilantly for my inclusion into the program. Finally, I would like to thank my aunt, Ann Henley, for her support throughout my studies. Peter Zuurbier, May 2011 iii Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………… ii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….. iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………. iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………………. 1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………. 20 Spectacle………………………………………………………. 20 Myth…………………………………………………………… 32 Spectacle and Sport…………………………………………… 37 Hockey – Mythic Traditions and Criticisms………………….. 41 CHAPTER THREE: CASE STUDY- TSN …………………………… 53 Hockey Cubed…………………………………………………. 54 Player Commodification within Hockey Cubed………………. 58 Consuming Nationalism………………………………………. 62 Assertions of Canadian Superiority…………………………… 63 Exclusion and Contestation of Violence……………………… 66 CHAPTER FOUR: CASE STUDY – HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA. 69 Myth Creation Within the Spectacle…………………………... 70 Overt Consumer Sponsorship…………………………………. 77 Celebrations and Contestations of Masculinity……………….. 80 Don Cherry and the Reification of Violence………………….. 88 Ambiguity within the Spectacle………………………………. 93 Exclusion within the Spectacle………………………………. 94 iv CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION & DISCUSSION………………… 97 REFERENCES………………………………………………………… 107 v 1 Chapter One: Introduction Canadians share a unique relationship with ice hockey. The sport carries significant mythic currency and is one of a limited number of identifiable symbols of Canadian nationalism. But while the Canadian relationship with hockey is exactly as it appears, how it appears is not as it seems. The appearance of hockey on televisions across the country over generations has encouraged the development of a distinct connection between sport, television, and Canadian nationalism. But the spectacular mediation along with the mythic exploitation of this relationship ensures that all is not as it seems. Ice hockey is mythologized as human mastery of nature, of man’s command of the savagery of the elements that are intrinsic to Canadian climate and geography. The reputed attributes of those who play (and excel at) the game align with those of the country’s founders who traveled the frozen lakes and rivers, building Canada by bettering the rugged wilderness that surrounded them. Richard Harrison (2009) writes: “In the myth of the origin of hockey, Canada finds all the elements of its own creation: winter; team work; hard work; the passing of tradition from parent to child; an idyllic blending of European and Aboriginal cultures… in the image of water frozen forever, Canadians find the image and condition for the Canadian virtue of endurance.” (p. 153) But for the majority of Canadians it is the appearance of hockey, the images in front of them on the television screen that makes up their hockey experience. Ice hockey is officially recognized as Canada’s co-national sport (along with the increasingly marginalized sport of lacrosse). The mythology surrounding the game invokes and 2 inspires memories from the many who enjoyed childhood hockey in its various forms. While for others the televised professional ice hockey spectacle provided by the National Hockey League (NHL), along with its broadcasting partners, forms the basis for the relationship between individual Canadians and hockey. Nation and sport share a particularly symbiotic relationship in Canada. Mass media works as the intermediary between the two and the Canadian audience. Mass media plays a significant role in the way Canadians understand themselves. Many Canadians will never see and experience the full expanse of their country, most will only see and experience certain parts of it for themselves. Despite this the tenuous notion of a unified country remains. In Canada one of the most significant symbols of national unity is hockey. Jason Blake (2008) writes: “A Prairie farmer or a Newfoundland outport resident will recognize the snow on the Rocky Mountains, but the peaks will not be an experienced reality; neither will a francophone Quebecoise always be able to complain about the cold in a common tongue with an Anglophone Albertan. They will all, however, be familiar with hockey.” (p. 20) For the majority of Canadians the country is an imagined community built through simulation. (Baudrillard, 1981) Images and sounds have been assembled and projected to Canadians who trust them as realistic interpretations of far off places, yet all fall under the shadow cast by the maple leaf. With the regular broadcasting of professional ice hockey on the state-funded airwaves of the Canadian Broadcasting 3 Corporation (CBC) for over half a century, images of the sport are an established part of the simulated, imagined community of Canada. Back to appearances not being all that they seem, Canadians watching professional hockey broadcasts on television, much like any audience watching any professional sport broadcast on television, are not merely watching a hockey game. They are watching a re-assembled narrative, a hyperreal (Baudrillard, 1981) version of the game action. There are three levels of abstraction