The other day, as I was listening to the radio, I heard a promo for a CBC documentary entitled Being Canadian. Being Canadian? What does that even mean? Intrigued, I decided to check it out online. I’m glad I did because it makes for some great content to share on this blog.
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| Sunny (second from left) and her family. |
Turns out, Being Canadian is a radio documentary produced by a woman named Sun-Kyung (Sunny) Yi. It offers up both an intellectual and personal approach to the themes of multiculturalism, citizenship and – yes – being Canadian. Divided into two one-hour segments, the first half explores the meaning of multiculturalism in Canada while the second half focuses on Sunny’s own experiences as a Korean-Canadian growing up in Regina during the 1970s and 80s.
The documentary opens up during the oath-taking portion of a Canadian citizenship ceremony. Here, we meet Sunny. While she it now attending the ceremony as a Canadian and a guest, she explains that she became a Canadian citizen with her family. From here, the documentary opens up to explore the roller-coaster experience that many Canadians face: juggling between cultural identity with that of their Canadian identity.
By speaking with other Canadians, Sunny asks how they view their own cultural identity within the Canadian context. Among these interviewees are a family of Acadians living in Nova Scotia. For them, their identity is a complicated, multi-layered mix of Canadian, Nova Scotian and Acadian. While they are proud Canadians and maritimers, they hold a special importance for their Acadian identity. With this importance also comes the fear of losing this identity within the all-encompassing Canadian identity. From this topic, Sunny jumps into the second theme of the documentary.
In the second part of the documentary, Sunny shares her own family's experience with balancing identities. In particular, she speaks of her fear of losing her identity as a Korean by becoming a Canadian citizen. By comparing her parents' immigration experience with her own, she notices two very different processes of balancing identity. While Sunny considers her heritage as an essential part of her identity, she proclaims herself as a Canadian. On the other hand, Sunny views her parents as "out of place." Having grown apart from Korea and never completely "fitting in" in Canada, Sunny feels that her parents were stuck in an identity limbo, never truly belonging anywhere.
As a Canadian with no other cultural heritage, this documentary was very instightful for me. Through Sunny's depiction of her own experiences of immigration, and the experiences of others, it gave me a glimpse at what it is like to have to balance multiple identities. Before this documentary, I don't think I'd ever truly cosidered the complex process of comprimising one's heritage with national identity.
Overall, I recommend this radio documentary to anyone who is interested in Canadian identity. Whether it be national identity, cultural identity, or the compromise between the two, this documentary offers a lot to think about.
To listen to the documentary, click here.
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