I’m delighted to announce that Beth Herst and I have just published a new article entitled Canadian Political Storytelling: Back to a Future?” It is available in its entirety in the online journal New Area Studies.

The article is the basis for the chapter about Canadian political narratives on film or television from 1960 to the present in Public Representations – the book we’re working on. The article shows that the vast majority of these narratives were produced by two public-sector organizations, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board of Canada (NFB). We discuss conditions of production, in particular the influence of US films and television series in this genre. Our sample of 49 films or television series includes stories focusing on political leaders, most of whom are white males, and alternative stories focusing on female politicians and indigenous Canadians.

We concluded that New Area Studies is an especially appropriate showcase for our work for several reasons. Area studies (or what is more commonly called regional studies in North America) is intrinsically inter-disciplinary. New Area Studies is new because it pays close attention to global and international influences on regions. Our article is interdisciplinary, combining political science, economics, and cultural studies. A regional studies focus on Canada includes both English and French Canada and the external influences of the US, UK, and global film and television industries.

By publishing in an international journal rather than a Canadian journal we are attempting to tell our Canadian stories to non-Canadians as well as Canadians. Finally, open access makes our article available to anyone with an Internet connection.

We hope you read our article and find it thought-provoking.