Canadian Literature Needs to Stop Talking Only to Itself | The Walrus

"For three-quarters of a century, the official position has been that if Canadians don't support Canadian culture, no one will-and that some stage management is required. After all, American influence is overwhelming, while the United States and international markets are tough nuts to crack. In terms of consumers, Canada is tiny. So, the writing and publishing industries, like the arts in general, have been kept afloat by a robust system of government subsidies."

"There's plenty to praise about public arts funding. But cultural protectionism has made CanLit something of a closed loop. For most Canadian writers, the safest strategy has been to play the local game, aiming for domestic stability without worrying unduly about their reception abroad. This goes double for Canadian poets, who, without much hope of life-sustaining sales figures, measure success in small gradations of prestige and accomplishment."

Every October's Nobel announcements underline the global breadth of literature and the frequent unfamiliarity of English-speaking readers with many laureates. Readers cannot keep up with all books, and translation gaps limit access. Canada's literary ecosystem is inward-looking due to longstanding policy that government support is required to sustain Canadian culture against overwhelming American influence and small domestic markets. Government subsidies have kept writing and publishing afloat and incentivized a national literature. Cultural protectionism has produced a closed loop in which writers pursue domestic stability rather than international reach, and Canadian poets especially measure success by prestige within a peer conversation.

Read at The Walrus