I came across this and even though it pertains to Canada and Quebec I
thought it might be thought-provoking for the members of this list. Do
Latin Americans have "cosmopolitan" or "ethnic" visions of nation?
Saludos,
-- Pablo
A letter to the Editor sent to The Guardian Weekly (Latin American Edition),
December 3rd, 1995:
"Confusion over Canada's Divide"
In his discussion of Canada, Martin Woollacott ("Nationalism hastens
Canada's great divide", November 5) makes the same fundamental error as do
the Quebec separatists. In his brief article he refers to "English Canada"
approximately 10 times. This is disconcerting, as English Canada does not
exist!
French Canada does exist. They are the "true Quebecois" with whom the
separatists wish to form an ethnic nation in the 19th century European sense.
Perhaps 6 million in number, they share 400 years of common history, a
common language (a dialect of French), common geography (most of the
southern half of the province of Quebec), common religion (lapsed Roman
Catholic), perhaps common genealogy, and above all a common culture and
mythology. Coincidentally, they control sufficient natural and human
resources to survive also as an economic state.
Much as the separatists and Mr. Woollacott may repeat it, there is no
corresponding entity in the rest of Canada. Canada is Canada. Canada,
including the parts of the province of Quebec who voted for Canada in the
referendum, is a modern, cosmopolitan, democratic, new world state made up
of a bewildering array of ethnic groups, more or less integrated. Some live
in relatively self-contained ethnic communities which share religion,
language and culture, whether Chinese, German, Hutterite, or Inuit. Others
of us have integrated into a new world culture to the extent that we may be
totally unaware of any identity other than Canadian. Our leaders have names
like Klein, Romanow and Schreyer. Our most famous scientist is named
Suzuki, our best athlete Gretzky. However, we do not think of Wayne Gretzky
as Polish, nor do we consider others of us English, even if some of us have
some English ancestry and most of us speak a dialect of English.
None of this is to say that Canada is a wonderful, harmonious, multicultural
heaven. Canada has many problems, including inter-ethnic ones. It is
simply to point out that the very essence of Canada is different from the
cultural/ethnic self-definition of the separatist Quebecois. The
distinction between Canada and Quebec is not a distinction between English
and French cultures. It is a distinction between cosmopolitan and ethnic
visions of nation.
It is often said that Canada does not understand Quebec. That may or may
not be true: I think that Quebec nationalism is relatively easy to
understand. On the other hand, it is clear that Quebec nationalists and Mr.
Woollacott do not understand Canada.
David Wessel,
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Pablo Policzer
Investigador Asociado Ph.D. Candidate
Instituto de Ciencia Politica Department of Political Science
Universidad Catolica de Chile Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alameda 340 - 4to piso Cambridge, Mass.
Santiago, Chile USA 02139
Email: policzer@lascar.puc.cl Email: policzer@mit.edu
Tel: + 56 (2) 686-2581
Fax: + 56 (2) 635-2983
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