The Force of Culture: Vincent Massey and Canadian SovereigntyA misunderstood and sometimes maligned figure, Vincent Massey was one of Canada's most influential cultural policy-makers and art patrons. Best known as Canada's first native-born Governor General, he chaired the landmark Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters, and Sciences that led to the creation of the Canada Council. The Force of Culture examines Massey's notion of culture, its conflicted roots in late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Canadian Protestant thought, and Massey's transformation into a champion of culture as a bastion of Canadian sovereignty. Karen Finlay's study goes beyond existing literature by examining the role of Massey's Methodist upbringing in instilling an education gospel as the bedrock of culture and the foundation of a national citizenry. The study also reassesses Massey's reputation as a supporter of the fine arts. Steeped in Methodism, his attitudes towards the arts were ambiguous. He never adopted a purely art-for-art's sake doctrine, but came to understand that the arts, without being moralizing, could serve a moral and cultural purpose: the expression and affirmation of national character and sovereignty. As well as charting Massey's evolving attitudes towards culture and the arts, Finlay attempts to redress the common charges of sexism, elitism, and anglophonism levelled against him. Finlay stresses Massey's contradictory views on issues relating to gender, race, and class, outweighed by the ongoing legacy of his belief in Canadian cultural diversity. Above all, Massey valorized the principles of excellence and diversity as twin antidotes to the anathema of conformity and cultural homogenization. The tenet Massey sought to honour, pertaining deeply to the collective and moral nature of humanism in Canada, Finlay argues, was community without uniformity. The Force of Culture shows that Massey was, in certain respects, a democratizer and even a populist, who believed that difference need not divide. Electronic Format Disclaimer: Images removed at the request of the rights holder. |
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... important ways forward for women. Out of the west, with its millions of new Canadians, came the adult education movement. Labour had its Workers' Educational Association. In 1949, when I first took the annual revue Spring Thaw on tour ...
... important root of the connection between culture and nationalism and the notion that specific circumstances of time and place gave rise to unique national characters. Here too lay one source of the formidable alliance between ...
... important than at the present time. The consolidation of our churches in all parts of the land has given us greater relative prominence and influence in the community, and calls more loudly than ever for trained men in all departments ...
... important a factor.'97 Despite Chester Massey's blessing and his stated willingness to transfer title of the property to Victoria College, the scheme was not realized.98. Hart. House: The. 'Whole'. Student. and. the. 'Common. Life'. In 1910 ...
... important that the facility concern itself with students' religious well-being under an interdenominational mantle. At the time of Hart House's conception, the Young Men's Christian Association needed new space. Massey was intent that ...
Other editions - View all
The Force of Culture: Vincent Massey and Canadian Sovereignty Karen Finlay No preview available - 1999 |
The Force of Culture: Vincent Massey and Canadian Sovereignty Karen Finlay No preview available - 2004 |