Rural as Translocal: An Alternative to National Identity in Canadian Theatre

• Author / Creator

  Battye, John H

• Canada possesses a culture of many interconnected voices, but this diversity is not represented in the major commercial enterprises of Canadian theatre. This thesis will question the existence of a national Canadian identity and through the framework of rural Canadian theatre posit an alternative to centralizing the nation. Historically examining attempts of creating a national stage, the trope of the North, and regionalism will problematize issues of centralization and the “safe” and innocuous multiculturalism currently ingrained in Canadian theatre. The cultural history and manifestations of rural Canadian theatre will be defined and criticized through the lens of social and cultural theory to determine its place within the framework of Canadian culture. Using rural Canadian theatre as a base for analysis, the benefits of localism, translocalism and “telling our stories to ourselves” will be examined in the way it reconfigures Canada’s national and cultural identity in a complex geopolitical and multicultural landscape.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Theatre
  • Canada
  • Rural

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3RX93N5K

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.