Slippery Pastimes: Reading the Popular in Canadian Culture

Franзois Boudreau is a professor of sociology at Laurentian University.

This collection of 16 scholarly articles addresses the notion of “the
popular” from historical, theoretical, and ideological perspectives.
Reflecting the various disciplines used in cultural studies, the book is
divided into four sections: heritage, television, music, and sport. The
heritage section deals with Niagara Falls, Aboriginal cultural tourism,
Laura Secord, Canada Post reproductions on stamps, and the dilemma of
defining English-Canadian culture. The television section discusses
E.N.G. (a Quebec TV show), youth television, and televised popular
history. The music section tackles 1970s rock music, the East Coast
sound, the Stompin’ Tom phenomenon, Black Canadian music, and
“cowboyography.” The last section focuses on Canadian hockey and
Canadians at the Olympics.

Some of the authors argue that Canadian popular culture has a
subversive content and is used as ideology; others suggest that it is
homogenized and Americanized. Nowhere in the book is Canadian culture
simplistically condemned or celebrated. A recurring theme is the
perennial question of whether or not an English-Canadian culture exists
as an autonomous entity. All of the articles are well written and
persuasively argued.