On the Dark Side of the Nation: Politics of Multiculturalism and the State of “Canada”

This paper is primarily concerned with the construction of “Canada” as a social and cultural form of national identity, and various challenges and interruptions offered to this identity by literature produced by writers from non-white communities. The first part of the paper examines both literary and political-theoretical formulations of a “two-nation,” “two solitudes” thesis and their implications for various cultural accommodations offered to “others," especially through the mechanism of “multiculturalism.” The second part concentrates on the experiences and standpoint of people of colour, or non-white people, especially since the 1960s, and the cultural and political formulating derivable from them.