preview

Irony In Canada

Decent Essays

“As Canadian as possible under the circumstances” and “I’m not the Indian you had in mind” both bring up very different, but very real problems in Canada. The essay “As Canadian as possible under the circumstances”, by Linda Hutcheon, the author, states that in Canadian culture and language, people use irony very frequently as a means of mocking themselves or of a situation. The author believes this is because of the doubleness that is part of Canadian culture, which causes many underlying meanings in everything Canadians say or do. However, according to the author, the double meanings can only be understood if people understand the context in which it is being used. The author explains why irony is used in Canada by analyzing many reason …show more content…

It is only used to destabilize or undermine something in a possibly hurtful way. This is the problem that comes with the ironic nature of Canadian people, that they will use it as a weapon against …show more content…

The most simplest message you can derive from the two works is, despite these problems being very different, they must be dealt with in a similar way to each other and can not be ignored. Even, though Canadians are said to be very kind and light-hearted, they must take seriously the mistakes that were made in the past so that Canadians and Natives can move on and reconcile, and move forward together. There are many differences and doubleness in Canadian culture, but it can be put aside for a better future. Today, many Canadians still ignore what happened to Native people when the British first came to Canada, but it can not be ignored or just put aside, leaving it in the past. They have to take it seriously so that what happened in the past can be healed. The poem shows that Canadians still have these stereotypes against Canadians and that something must be done about these issues and the essay proves that Canadians are ironic people, and use that irony against others. They can not now use irony as a new form of criticizing someone instead of stereotypes and discrimination against the Indigenous of Canada. Canadians might mock themselves, but these two problems must be dealt with together so that it does not escalate further and continue into the

Get Access