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Chapter 7 | Claude Martin (continued) The third condition is the way the State intervenes in cultural development. This can take different forms. A set of cultural institutions can be an answer to several concerns, like small market size or the fear of being invaded by foreign cultural productions. Radio-Canada is the most important of these institutions. Moreover, through the years, an apparatus of financial and regulatory support can give cultural enterprises resources and protection. We can think here, among other things, about the regulation of foreign ownership and the quotas for national production. The federal and provincial governments have explicitly created cultural policies under the banner of cultural diversity. In addition to these three pillars of the creation of a cultural identity, there are other factors to be considered; for example, the creativity of the authors of cultural products, the effects of the language barrier, the impact of the school system, and the ability of Québec’s cultural sector to simultaneously accept influences from Europe and the United States. In sum, the history of Québec’s cultural industries illustrates how smaller societies can use the media to produce and disseminate culture. To ensure the handing down of culture, everything had to change. The culture that has been handed down is differently dressed now. It can sometimes be erudite or avant-garde. But most of the time, its clothing is mediatic and popular, in the sense of widespread consumption. This is especially the case with some television programs, which are viewed by more than a quarter of the population, and at times nearly half. Those new clothes have been multiplying themselves whereas society has been fragmenting into several cultural models. On the other hand, cultural industries work more and more on an international basis, where the productions of unequal markets compete. Also, the development of capitalism in the world of cultural industries challenges at least two of the three pillars of Québec’s cultural power. Local firms, searching for more profitable conditions, have to conquer a slice of the world market. Sometimes, they use strategies such as camouflaging the origins of production. Some question the necessity of protective systems which made it possible for them to develop. Others are tempted to sell themselves to the highest bidder, i.e., to international media conglomerates. These players are not keen on systems of cultural protection, and lobby to have them abolished. There remains the first pillar, a collective willingness to assert one’s identity. And what a fragile one! Listening to what the younger generation says it prefers among cultural products, we can be on the edge of despair or cynicism. Is it because of their limited exposure to history? Or is there an irresistible trend to finding pleasure only in “international” productions? Will their tastes change when they’re more mature? Two hundred years ago, we couldn’t have been more full of hope. A small society, poor and isolated, profited from circumstances that give it the tools to explore its identity and opened it to the world. During the 1980s, the slice of the markets captured by Québec cultural productions fell in a number of domains (books, records, television). It was a dramatic shift, but we recovered. New creative forms have arrived. The State mobilized itself once again and cultural organizations have made adjustments in what they offer. Out of this crisis, Québec’s cultural industries have benefited from a new period of prosperity, which continues today. This does not mean that all artists are well paid. That is another question. Nor does it mean that we should be proud of all that is found on our pages, our loudspeakers or our screens. Again, another question. But the point is that those three pillars can still adapt themselves to new conditions. references
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