Joanna Rzońca

“Multiethnic paradises” and the problem of a national identity.

Why Poles should know the cultural images of Canada and Australia?

Among many  human yearnings and needs, which have never lost their sense of relevance, there are two things which seem the most important: longing for an unspecified “Land of Constant Happiness” that still prompts a lot of creativity, and a need for self-definition.  These two human needs triggered many cultural and civilization changes, which have been shaping the face of history for years. It was the yearning for a “better world” which pushed medieval Vikings and Normans or the Renaissance explorers from Spain and Portugal into the unknown territories. The first people who after the Age of Discovery left Europe to colonize the newly explored lands were supposed to find their Promised Land there, too. Even today the most important reasons behind the decisions to emigrate are connected with the perspective of a better future. Increased human mobility has its consequences, however, – it leads to an identity crisis and creates a need to restate this identity. Today identity is not a simple concept – it has various faces depending on a character of a society which a given person lives in.

In my PhD thesis the two issues mentioned above were the starting point. Although they refer to a rather universal problem which concerns many people all over the world, I am interested in  multi-ethnic and multicultural societies where the importance of these issues is much bigger than in more homogenous societies. Firstly, within the countries which have immigrant character the myth of Promised Land or of the Paradise Regained becomes more real – every newcomer has to face it. Secondly, integration processes in the countries with such heterogeneous culture are not just a matter of theory but a serious problem.

Australia and Canada seem to be completely different – and they really are when looked at from the point of view of their location and climate. There are, however, many issues which let me compare these two countries, and though it is quite a challenge for me I will try to cope with that task.

Canada, since its colonization, has been considered by Europeans a “Promised Land,” a second Paradise, where newcomers can expect a better future.  These hopes were often shattered by the brutal reality shaped especially by climatic conditions, which were very severe for many Europeans. Despite all this, the myth of Canada as a country of welfare and prosperity exists even today. It has been additionally intensified by a slogan promoted by Dickens that Canada is “a country full of hope and promise.” It was not a coincidence that the prisoners of  the concentration camp in Auschwitz gave the name of Canada to this area where the living conditions were a bit less severe– a dream of Canada is present in the hearts of many Polish people even today.

It must be remembered, however, that what seemed a Promised Land for some people, for the others constituted a Paradise Lost, when the European colonists settled in the new country. The appearance of white men meant the end of a certain, well-known era to the indigenous peoples of Canada. In spite of many differences between Australia and Canada, this problem seems to be the same for the two countries.  This subject-matter is very popular in Australian cinematography, painting and literature, especially in the works of Aboriginal artists. The Motive of Paradise Lost appears very often in Aboriginal contemporary poetry, for example.

The second important issue is a cultural identity. In multiethnic societies this problem is more important than in the homogeneous ones. At first – the issue of identity is multidimensional in the multiethnic society. It means that in that kind of society one person may feel connected with more than one nationality or culture. For people who live in homogeneous countries this situation is very difficult to understand, because they can’t imagine how one man can be loyal to two countries or two traditions.

Poland is the country which has to learn again how to be tolerant of cultural dissimilarity. Poles also learn how to approach the people who are at the “cultural crossroad.” It should be emphasized, however, that Poland is an ethnically homogeneous country due to the changes brought about after the second  World War – before that time this country, for centuries, had a multicultural character.  Since Middle Ages ethnic and national minorities such as Lithuanians, Germans,  Ukrainians, Russians, Czechs, Jews, Gypsies, Tatars, Armenians, Karaites and others had a very important position in Poland. A great national poet, Adam Mickiewicz, started the most important Polish national epic with the words “Lithuania, my country.” In order to understand this, one has to realize that from Middle Ages till the beginning of the 20th century the Polish territory has been inhabited by many nations, as described in a book by Jerzy Tomaszewski entitled “Rzeczpospolita wielu Narodów” (The Polish Republic of Many Nations).

This situation has been drastically changed by the Second World War. Pogroms of Poles with Jewish, Romanian, Armenian and Karaim origins as well as the modification of Polish borders created an ethnically homogeneous society in Poland. This uniformity has been additionally supported by the fact that Poland was included in the Block of Soviet Countries. As a result, this country was away from any cultural changes which were happening in the Western World (except for the 1970’s when Poland was briefly open to the West). The time of two generations was enough to erase from the nation’s collective memory culturally different neighbours who before the war used to live in every second street, square or village. In the second half of the 20^th century national and ethnical minorities in Poland constituted the percentage so low, that it could be considered as a statistical error.

The last decade of the 20th century brought about some other changes. Due to the political transformation of 1989, Poland has become an attractive country  for many refugees and emigrants (even for those from beyond the European continent), who more often decide to settle on its territory. These changes have intensified after 2004 when Poland became a member of the European Union. Although the situation looks different in villages, which are still quite homogenous, and in big cities, where immigrants tend to settle more eagerly. It is a fact that Poland is changing its ethnic face. Today, the new minorities include people from Vietnam who conduct small trading and gastronomy businesses; people from Middle East who also deal with gastronomy, and, people from African countries who usually work as doctors or vets. An inhabitant of a big city comes across these emigrants on a daily basis – for years my pets have been treated by an African vet and the birth of my first daughter was attended by a black anaesthesiologist. Apart from that it should be remembered that after entering the European Union, Poland has become a member of a large multicultural family and now it has to learn how to function in it.

However, the fact that Poland has become more heterogeneous does not mean that all Poles are ready for these changes – unfortunately many Polish vices and ethnocentrism come about –  that is why it is so important to learn from countries with long multicultural tradition such as Canada or Australia how to function in  more complex societies. For that reason I became interested in Canada, which has not been thoroughly studied in Poland, yet.

The fact that in Australia and Canada cultural identity has not been fully shaped yet, is the second reason behind my interest in that topic. It is so fascinating that we can observe the process of integration and of nation forming. Although many sociologists and political scientists argue that, contrary to Australia,  we cannot talk about a Canadian nation but only about a Canadian society, this issue has not been fully settled, yet.  So, is there a Canadian identity? Are Canadians proud of their Canadian culture?  Do they think about it on everyday basis? Is Canadian ethnic variety a thing which disturbs integration processes, or on the contrary – is it a strength and an asset of Canada? I will look for the answers to these questions hoping to find at least some of them.

Finally, I would like to discuss one last topic, which will hold a special place in my research.  As I mentioned before, the aim of my thesis is to analyze cultural (national) identity in the context of multiethnic society. However, I would like to look at this phenomenon from the angle of art, which, in my opinion, is an area where identity manifestations often occur. So, it will be crucial for my dissertation to discover the role which art (understood as painting, literature and film) plays in the process of shaping the Canadian and Australian cultural identity. Particularly, I would like to discover links between the areas of art mentioned above. These areas interweave, exchange national legends or motifs and inspire one another. In the meantime, in this process, they create  a common though quite complicated, whole which can be referred to as “Australian Culture” or “Canadian Culture.” Another aim will be to present the issues, which increasingly concern Europe. Namely, I want to show the multidimensional character of the identity concept, discuss the problem of cultural dilemma and present the attempts of finding one’s own place in the multicultural society.  In this context, Australia and Canada will be treated as a sort of a cultural phenomenon which can only be understood from the angle of visual art, film and literature.

There are a few elements which create the national identity – one of them is art understood in a wider aspect. If we want to recognize a culture, we have to get to know its art. Without this knowledge, we are not able to penetrate the cultural landscape of any country, any nation.

Whenever I think about art and its role in the formation of the cultural identity I’m seeing the image of a twenty Canadian dollars note – this bill was so often in my hands during my visit in Canada. On the back of a twenty Canadian dollars note we can find an excerpt from the novel “The Hidden Mountain” by Gabrielle Roy – a Canadian writer and first woman elected to the French section of the Royal Society of Canada.

“Could we ever know each other in the slightest without art?”

This short text makes it clear to us that art – in any country – has got the power to define who we are as a nation and as a society. The position of arts should be as important in each culture as for example customs or values. Maybe even more. Because art gives us the possibility of self- definition which is truly important, especially in multicultural countries which have to build common quality on the base of ethnic diversity. This process is considered to be difficult because a multicultural society has various roots based on different traditions. As a result, young nations like Australians and Canadians, need their own, original art. Canada needs Group of Seven and Emily Carr or Alex Colville, it needs Margaret Atwood and Farley Mowat or Leonard Cohen, it needs Denys Arcand and Alanis Obomsawin and others. Canada needs them all to be proud of itself, to consider itself a nation.

Joanna Rzońca

Doktorantka nauk humanistycznych w dyscyplinie nauk o sztuce w Instytucie Sztuk Audiowizualnych UJ

Nauczycielka wiedzy o kulturze w IV LO w Krakowie