Canadian Children’s Literature and Canadian Multiculturalism: Beyond Fetishist Faith and Disavowal

Abstract

Multiculturalism has been the guiding political and cultural principle of Canadian government since the 1970s, which has contributed to the formation and reinforcement of Canadian national identity as a multicultural mosaic. However, the idea of official multiculturalism has also intertwined with the veiled history of cultural oppressions of native Canadians. This essay examines the particular ways in which such ambivalent multiculturalism characterizes and influences the thematic diversity and expansion of Canadian Children’s literature. Since its historical process of nation building, Canadian Children’s literature has served as a vehicle for the ideological conceptualization of Canadian identity and autonomy. As Canada began to embrace and encompass a diversity of ethnic, racial, and cultural groups as a key part of nationhood, it became increasingly necessary for Canadian Children’s literature to assume the role of defining and justifying the foundational principles of particularly Canadian multiculturalism. This essay investigates how Canadian multiculturalism is formative and formed by Canadian children’s literature by focusing on its new vision, horizon, and possibility.