Book Review: Canada: Neighbours Taken for Granted
| Author | Peyton V. Lyon |
| Published date | 01 March 1967 |
| Date | 01 March 1967 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070206702200129 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
116
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
It's
quite
impossible
to
give
any
meaningful
capsule
version
of
each
essay
or
section
but
some
particular
ones
illustrate
the
general quality
of
the
book. Self-conscious
Canadian righteousness
and
purity
is
nowhere
present.
For
example,
John
Holmes begins his
magnificent
essay
on
"Nationalism
in
Canadian
Foreign
Policy"
with
the
following
hard
hitting
statement:
"Nigeria,
Colombia
or
Canada
differ
from the
con-
ventional
nation-states
of
Europe
in
that
they
are
either
multi-tribal
or
a
subdivision
of
a
larger
tribe.
They
are
quite
capable
of
exhibiting
the
malevolent
nationalism
of
the
European
tradition,
but they have
special
qualities and
functions
to
be
taken
into
consideration
when
estimating
the appropriate
role
of
nationalism
in
the
design
for
a
viable
globe.
Canada,
says
Holmes,
is
a
very
special
case
not
because
we
have
less
of
the
old
Adam
within
us
but because
circumstances
bring
about
a different
expression.
The
section
on
culture
deals with
nationalism
in
literature
and
broadcasting
and
both
essays
are
of
the
same
high
standard.
Frank
Watt rightly
deprecates
attempts
to
encourage
or
advertise
Canadian
nationalism through
literature
and
concludes
that
those
who
make the
country
the
theme
of
their writing
must
do
so
with
a
sense
of
irony
or
accept
the
fact
of
being
"world famous
all
over
Canada"
The
essay
on
"The
Nationalist
Dilemma
in
Canadian
Broadcasting"
(by
Frank
Peers)
presents
a
challenge
to
the
supporters
of
the
publicly
owned
net-
work
with
its
evidence
that
the
private
sector
has
steadily
increased
in
dominance
and
American
orientation.
The section
on
"New
Perspectives"
begins
with
a
juxtaposition
of
nationalism
and
metropolitanism
which
the author,
Maurice
Careless,
describes
as
"two
of
the
most
significant phenomena
in
modem
history"
Further
essays
relate
nationalism
to
modem
technology,
subject
it to
psychoanaylsis
and
look
at
it as an
ideology
The
book
ends
with
a
very
strong
summary
essay
by
Peter
Russell,
the
editor
of
the
volume.
University
of
Manitoba
M.
S.
DONNELLY
NEIGHBOURS
TAKEN
FOR GRANTED.
Canada
and
the
United
States.
Edited
by
Livingston
T. Merchant.
1966.
(New
York:
Frederick
A.
Praeger.
Toronto:
Bums
&
MacEachern.
xv
166pp.
$6.00)
This
is
a
U.S.-Canadian
dialogue
with
a
difference.
Most such
exchanges
are
dominated
by
Canadian
complaints
about
American
indifference;
the
Americans
generally
plead guilty
and promise
un-
convincingly
to
do
better.
The
four
Canadian
contributors
to
this
volume,
however,
are all
self-critical,
while
three
of
the four
Americans
have
clearly
had
their
fill
of
Canadian
whirnng
and
pretension.
Their
plain
speaking
suggests
that
Canadians may
be
unwise
to
go on
taking
for
granted the
tolerance
and
benevolence
of
the
Great
Republic.
The
historical
notes
contributed
by Bruce
Hutchison
will
help
readers
on
both
sides
of
the
border
to
understand
how
the
Canadians
acquired
the
notion
that
they
are
a
separate
people
with
a
separate
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