Oh Canada: inventing a tradition for a polite and clean nation

I grew up in a country that regularly featured propaganda videos in movies and on television to teach me about my culture and heritage.  No, I wasn't behind the Iron Curtain or in a place run by a dictator: this took place in Canada on a regular basis.  Government-supported films were created (by the National Film Board) to offer insights into what made us Canadians.  Why was this necessary?  Because Anglo Canadian culture was not particularly well defined, from what I recall.  Sure, we all had to read Canadian literature in school, but I didn't find that Canada had the same kinds of nation-defining events as America (and we are constantly comparing ourselves to America, even when we don't admit it).  There was no real equivalent to American Thanksgiving, for instance, which is a holiday steeped with rituals, formal and informal.  Canada Day had fireworks, but nothing on par with the Fourth of July.  In fact, growing up I think that many of us had the idea that Canada didn't really amount to all that much, in the world, but we were clean and polite.

[I think that this has shifted drastically, but that may have to wait for another post]

This is not to say that all Canadians were walking around with a lack of identity.  Some groups had defined themselves very well.  Take, for instance, French Canada, which had a slew of folk songs, literature, plays, and even television.  In fact, my favorite Canadian television show when I was growing up came from Quebec.  It was called Lance et compte, and it was basically the Canadian response to Dallas, only with hockey.  Yes, it was a primetime soap opera based around the fictional Quebec Nationals team (thinly veiled for the Quebec Nordiques, they even shared a logo), and it was phenomenal.  I remember scenes like one of the Soviet players defecting via the Canadian embassy in Paris.  This was engaging stuff when you were a young Canadian:

I will post more later about French Canadian identity, which is a fascinating and complex topic.  Jewish Canadian identity was also relatively well-defined, and in fact substituted somewhat for Canadian identity as a whole, at least in the realm of high school literature that we had to read.  The only Canadian book that I remember reading in school was Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1955), which I hated with the power of a thousand suns because I found the main character repugnant.  We were not given any context for his character and this may have been my first exposure to the concept of Jewishness as a potentially separate group within what we had been taught was a cohesive whole.  Perhaps more context would have improved my experience, but in the end, I gained little insight into what it was to be an Anglo Canadian, since Duddy was Jewish and in Montreal, which means he was subject to what is effectively an entirely different culture than my Anglo-Saxon Ontario upbringing.

(You might find it weird that we didn't read Margaret Atwood, who is possibly the most effective chronicler of Anglo Canadian life that I know, with Cat's Eye being her best work in this regard.  I do too.  Maybe she talked about sex or women or some other scary and uncomfortable subject, and therefore could not be included in the curriculum.  Why not Robertson Davies?  There were better options).

English Canada has a bad habit of stealing the culture of French Canada.  Today, you can find poutine hailed as a Canadian dish (French fries, gravy, and cheese curds, YUMMY YUM, even if it is a heart attack on a plate).  However, it's really from Quebec.  When I was growing up, you only found poutine in Quebec, never anywhere else.  To say that it represents Canada as a whole would be a little bit like if New Englanders suddenly appropriated barbeque as their own.  The South would, obviously, rise up, led by irate pit masters.  Canadians may be too polite to rise up, but certainly they take no issue with adopting French (or Canadian-Jewish) cultural icons as their own.  Even the folk songs that I remember from school were mostly from Quebec:

And one from Newfoundland:

I didn't feel any closer attachment to Newfoundland culture than I did to that of Quebec.  However, I do find it notable that I don't remember a single unique Ontario song from when I was growing up.

I should probably point out that I was part of a French immersion program, so I spent more time speaking and learning about French than many Canadian students.  However, I am fascinated with how much Quebec informs Canada's culture as a whole, and how strange the notion of an Anglo Canadian culture was.  This topic will be the subject of future 'Oh Canada' posts.

Typing like Kanye (and thanks!)

Our previous post on "Kanye Wagner" appears to have been a hit. Zoe said the only more impressive way to top the response to our blog so far would be if 'Ye himself were to grace this blog with his presence. Preferably by shouting at us in all caps:

Kanye: WHO IS THIS WAGNER PERSON I DO NOT KNOW HIM WHY ARE YOU COMPARING ME TO HIM I AM BETTER THAN THAT I AM A GOD. I AM NOT THE BLACK WAGNER I AM WAGNER HIMSELF COME BACK AS A MARTYR TO SOCIETY YOU CANNOT DESTROY US.

That would certainly be the crowning achievement for Schenkerian Gang Signs.

So thanks, everyone, for the positive response! And I would like to use this blog space to encourage you all to occasionally leave comments in the style of Kanye (all caps, little punctuation). For advice on how to do so, please turn to Zoe. She has a gift for capturing Ye's shouty voice. Her Kanye-style raps are the stuff of legend. What dreams are made of, really.

Exhibit A:
YOU MIGHT THINK THAT YOU KNOW WHO I AM,
BUT YOU CAN'T 'CAUSE I'M 'YE
AND I STAND OUT FROM ALL OTHERS
FROM THE PAST AND THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
I PRETTY MUCH COME FROM THE FUTURE 
SO I AM AHEAD OF YOU.
YOU SEE THIS VERSE? IT DON'T EVEN RHYME,
WHO HAS THE TIME?
EXCEPT AT THE END THERE,
YOU SEE WHAT I DID?

A Brief History of the "Black Carmen" (finally, Kira gets to talk about Beyonce!)

Yesterday morning, I gave a lecture to about 130 students on orientalism in art and music. I talked about Puccini's Madame Butterfly at one point, and I think I might have terrified my students a little bit by sharing with them something I call the "Madame Butterfly effect:" the European-American feminization of East Asia. I showed them Madonna, Gwen Stefani, and Katy Perry playing "geisha"(look up Katy Perry's reasons for playing a geisha. I just can't even right now). In feminizing the East, I argued, the West (used loosely here) also distorts/dismisses/rejects Asian masculinity as well. Which, I told my students, is why the Asian male character in the tv show, "2 Broke Girls," is, um, disappointing. We're supposed to see him as asexual, incapable of wooing any American woman regardless of his antics. He's a small child, a boy - not a man - who is trying to act much older than he is. When he attempts to be a strong and stern manager, he's "play-acting" his manhood. Because he doesn't have any.

I'm digressing. I also showed my students a clip from Bizet's opera, Carmen (the Franco Rosi 1984 film version, OBVS):

The gypsy Carmen is a loose amalgam of different possible ethnicities, especially in the original novella by Prosper Merimee. With wild hair and olive skin, Carmen is ethnically ambiguous, causing Don Jose at one point to ask her (in the novella) if she's possibly a Moor or (dare he think it!) Jewish.

As I was watching this youtube clip with my students in class my mind wandered over to the fact that at some point in the 20th century, Carmen became a character that many African American singers could take on. Last year at the annual American Musicological Society Conference in Pittsburgh, musicologist Kristen Turner from UNC-Chapel Hill presented her research on the first African American opera company from the early 20th century. One of the first productions they staged was Bizet's Carmen. By the 1960s, it seemed perfectly acceptable for African American singers to play her:

A young (and very pretty!) Grace Bumrby in the role of Carmen.

The fabulous diva, Leontyne Price, as Carmen. Which I find a bit odd, given her voice type, no? Regardless: she is SERVING IT on this album cover. Serving it to the Gods.

The mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves has made a name for herself playing Carmen as well.

But this Carmen business goes beyond a few singers being type-casted for the role. When we see new interpretations or retellings of the Carmen tale, they're retold as black tales (African American, more specifically).

Carmen Jones is an excellent example of that. Premiering in 1943 as a Broadway musical (and later in 1954 as a film), Carmen Jones now takes place during WWII at an American parachute factory instead of a Spanish cigarette factory. I think most people are familiar with the 1954 film version, starring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. It's colorful, entertaining, and an intriguing retelling to think about.

Musicologist Annegret Fauser's article on Carmen Jones might be a good place to start if you're looking for more information: "“Dixie Carmen”: War, Race, and Identity in Oscar Hammerstein's Carmen Jones (1943)" in Journal of the Society for American Music, Volume 4, No. 2 (May 2010), pp. 127-174: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7530408

Of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention the *other* other Carmen, which is Beyonce's 2001 TV Movie, Carmen: A Hip-Hopera (I kid you not):

This production has everything my pop-culture addled brain and spectacle-loving heart desires. This time, Carmen Brown is an aspiring actress who causes trouble wherever she goes. The cast in this production reads like a "who's who" list of late 90s/early 2000s actors and pop/hip-hop musicians: Mekhi Phifer (!), Mos Def (!), Wycleaf Jean, Joy Bryant, Lil Bow Wow, and Jermaine Dupri (!) all make an appearance at one point or another.

And because we all need to see a clip of this in action:

As I mentioned in one of our previous SGS posts, I'm drawn to spectacle, so I'm eating this up like it's cake.

Obvious fact of the day: Black American singers have historically had a difficult time landing roles in the opera world. I don't have time to get into it, but let's just say that there were (and still are) racial biases in operatic typecasting. But what is intriguing to me about Bizet's opera, Carmen, are the many transformations it's undergone since the late 19th century. It's not just that Bizet's original production lent itself well to having different singers perform it. Rather, by the end of the 20th century, the opera became (in American popular culture anyway) black-owned. Beyonce's Carmen was *ridiculous* in a glorious late 90s/early 2000s pop music sort of way. But it's not like Queen Bey (all hail!) was stepping into uncharted territory by reimagining this tale. In fact, critics denounced it as unimaginative.

I'll keep picking away at the "Black Carmen" phenomenon over the years, I'm sure. I'm not done mining this yet. There are just too many gems in this history. Any thoughts on other "black Carmens" out there that I might have missed? Please post in the comments.

Missing Slices of Cultural History: Craps

The role of the historian is to attempt to decode what came before.  Typically, when we think about what we need to decode, we tend to imagine that we need to travel far back in time.  How can we understand, for instance, the complex administrative structure that was the Roman Empire and how it operated in everyday life?  How can we make sense of what used to be called the 'Dark Ages,' a time when crucial events were instigated by groups that did not record history?

But we tend to forget that knowledge does not require centuries to be lost.  In fact, it can sometimes disappear within decades.  Philip Roth novels, for example, often successfully re-create these 'lost worlds' that were occupied by our parents and our grandparents, yet contain elements almost wholly foreign to us today (....this may need a separate post....).  Take, for instance, Nemesis (2010), which tells of the fear that takes over a community during the 1940s when there is a polio outbreak.  Most of us are fortunate to live in a time when polio is nothing more than a distant memory, with only the occasional vestige to remind us that it even existed.  Yet polio was a common fear not that long ago.

Let me shift from polio to the game of craps.  Craps is a dice game that you can now play if you visit your local neighborhood casino (or the larger gaming venues at Las Vegas or Atlantic City).  The principles are relatively simple:

However, craps is also a popular choice for American stage productions when they need a dice game.  For example, in Porgy and Bess, the dice game that the men are playing is craps.  Also, a craps game is a major plot elements in Guys and Dolls, a musical based on the writings of Damon Runyon:

Why craps?  Was that really what everyone was playing?  Was this the illegal dice game of choice?  Is this the illegal dice of choice and I just don't know about it?  Are there more examples?   Please feel free to discuss in the comments!

Composers Doing Stuff

We'd like to interrupt your pleasant Sunday afternoon to inform you that the following tumblr page exists:

http://composersdoingnormalshit.tumblr.com/?og=1

Where's an image of Mahler chillaxing in his alpine hut?


And if you're looking for another surrealistic tumblr page featuring historical figures in domestic settings, check this out:

http://naziswithcats.tumblr.com/

May you be equally perturbed by both.

Mel Brooks Mocking Hitler (Part 1)

I can think of few movie directors who consistently manage to poke fun at Hitler and Nazis in a way that never gets old like Mel Brooks.  Indeed, I believe that he is the grand champion.  Here is one of his best moments:

 

Evidently, a dubbed version that sounds Danish or something?

This is the end of Brooks' History of the World, Part I, where there are trailers for History of the World, Part II (which did not happen).  What makes this so funny is, naturally, seeing Hitler figure skate, but I particularly like the choice of Johann Strauss Jr.'s Blue Danube Waltz.  First, it is ideal figure skating music, of course.  But the music of Strauss Jr. was also favored by the Nazis and programmed frequently for concerts.  I have no idea if Brooks knew this or if he simply wanted to feature a graceful waltz.  Either way, the scene is sixteen seconds of perfection.

Kanye Wagner

I don't know when this happened, but by late 2011/early 2012 I had started to develop a suspicion about the musician, rapper, beat sampler, fashion designer, "artiste," and temper tantrum thrower named Kanye West that over time has hardened into a theory. His unruly behavior, his megalomania, his grand posturing, and his quasi-religious sentiments of martyrdom reminded me of another pompous, self-obsessed musician from another era altogether: the German composer Richard Wagner.

Is it possible that Kanye West is simply Richard Wagner haunting us from the grave? Are they musical, metaphorical, metaphysical brothers of another mother?

Hear me out. Both of them were/are absolutely convinced of their genius and both argue/d that they have revolutionized music forever. Both insist that music must be an experience, aurally, visually, socially, spiritually, metaphysically. Both of them make great lenses to view historical and contemporary conversations on race and nationalism (more on that later). Both have had public affairs with married women, and had children from those affairs. Both were/are weirdly obsessed with fashion. Richard Wagner wrote lengthy letters to his Viennese milliner to ensure that his sartorial designs were exactly to his liking.

Here is one of his writings to Fraulein Bertha in 1865:
Can you let me have a good heavy satin of light brown by Sunday, two also of dark pink? Is the enclosed shade to be obtained of good quality at from four to five florins? The blue I should also like, but rather lighter than darker. Has Szontag a good assortment of the red or carmine heavy satin with which you lined the white dressing-gown with flowered pattern. Please let me have pattern of the enclosed six shades and materials, and also let me know if you accede to my proposal for a yearly account. This will be most, convenient for me, and in this way I shall be able to employ you continuously. It is to be hoped you still have my measure.
Awaiting your reply,
-Truly yours,
RICHARD WAGNER.
“P.S. — Do not change pattern No. 2, the dark pink for light pink, but for a pink as dark and fiery as possible.”
(http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1881/09/wagner.htm)

And in September 2010, Kanye West also discussed his penchant for certain colors and fabrics:
“How many times have people taunted me because of a color that I had on or how tight my pants were? It’s nothing. I’m at the point now where I can go to ABC Carpet and spend five hours picking out sheets, ‘cause I love colors, like teal and taupe and salmon … When I visited Wayne at Rikers Island, I had a suit on with some slippers, and the guard said, ‘Man, those shoes are amazing.’ And I said, ‘Yes, they are. I’m Kanye West.’" (Taken from: http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2010/09/kanye-wests-la-dolce-vita-cover-story-excerpt/)

Here's a list of paraphrased statements said by either Kanye West or Richard Wagner at various points in their lives. Can you guess who said which?

1. My persian carpets must have cherub imagery on them. Why is this such a difficult matter to attend to?

2. I write music with an exclamation point!

3. I believe in God, Mozart, and Beethoven.

3. I always seem to misspell the word "genius." Oh, the irony!

4. There is no astronaut training for celebrity... even though this whole life is so outer space!

6. Wherever the fish are, that's where we go.

7. When I die, I want world leaders to weep at my funeral.

8. I prefer dogs to these doglike men.

When someone yelled to Kanye West that he had no talent, he quickly responded, "I'm Kanye West. That doesn't make any sense!" Wouldn't Richard Wagner have offered the same retort?

The Atlantic magazine came out with a piece in May 2012 calling Kanye the "American Mozart": (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/american-mozart/308931/)

The author describes Kanye as "intense, emotional, frequently out of control," and calls him "a narcissistic monster who tore a massive hole of self-regard in the American cultural quilt." But how is this not Richard Wagner? How did the author miss this connection? Kanye is, above all, the American Wagner, not the American Mozart.

What I'd like to offer at some point on this blog is a list of activities/statements that Kanye needs to tackle/make in order to complete the transformation into Wagner. First up, he needs to build his own musical temple. I'm really surprised no one has suggested this to Kanye yet. Honestly. I'm surprised that no one's said, "you know what would be great? If you built a musical temple far away from any metropolis or cultural center. People would have to make pilgrimages to listen to your music as you intend for it to be listened to in a building that you designed to best support your musical endeavors. The building would combine your visual and musical needs, and you'd be in complete control of who participates in your aesthetic vision. Wouldn't that be great?"

This post will be the first of many on these two figures. Both seem to fascinate and appall Zoe and me at the same time. We're drawn to spectacle, to drama, to bombastic, quasi-delusional personalities who tend to shout at us like prophets/prophetesses in the wilderness. We eat up their words like they're little pieces of rich, chocolate cake laced with a diarrhetic. They're delicious now but we'll probably pay for devouring them later.