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This essay argues for bringing the methodology of post-colonial studies to bear on mainstream Canadian popular culture, towards a rethinking of Canada's ideological affinities with nations traditionally considered as Canada's ‘Others,’ the United Kingdom and the United States, through the mobilizations of popular culture for militarized nation-building. This argument identifies Germany's role in popular Canadian literature as a recurring national ‘Other’ against which Canadian nationalism develops, sensitized to the discourse of national security. Representations of Germany as a chronotope of distant war and natural evil recur among some of the most internationally famous works of Canadian literature. Those read here include" Anne of Green Gables," "In Flanders Fields," "Never Cry Wolf," "The Handmaid's Tale," the oeuvre of Leonard Cohen, and "Neuromancer." The essay concludes with thoughts on the ironies and implications of transnational stereotype and state policy in the popular uses of literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This essay reads the re-made Battlestar Galactica series according to the Canadian contexts of its production and the globalised contexts of its distribution, both formal (on cable TV) and informal (on the Internet). Contextualised within the history of media imperialism in Canada, the British Columbia sets and Canadian star casting of the series ironically articulate US-Canadian border and security concerns. Battlestar Galactica focuses particular attention on new media issues at a moment when the Canadian government is responding to pressure from US entertainment interests to align its intellectual property laws with their more punitive American counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...