Multiculturalism in canadian literature

Abstract

Canada is often described as a multicultural nation. This means that Canadians do not have a single cultural background; instead Canadians are the result of racial miscegenation and cultural diversity. In other words, Canadians reflect a vast diversity of cultural heritages and ethnic groups. This multicultural diversity is the result of decades of immigration. Charles Taylor is a Canadian philosopher concerned with the politics of recognition and identity. He rises above the raging polemics that often characterize discussions of identity groups and offers a fair-minded assessment of the role they play in democracies. With the move from honor to dignity, the questions of identity and multiculturalism have become the target of political discussions, emphasizing the equality of all citizens. The aim of this paper is to discuss how Taylor’s theory has been seen as a new possibility of interpretation in Canadian literary theory and criticism.