Tourism booklets are...not fine-tuned
histories written by historians. Yet, they are stories, making
connections between past and present, and between nature and culture. Many of
the guide books, especially the older ones, present accounts of the history of
the parks system, or are written in the form of stories guiding the visitor
through the park. They use the narrative form in telling the story of the park,
chronicling its history, presenting its purpose and attractions.
Promotional publications by the National
Parks Branch are excellent examples of reframing the past and present and
redefining the nature (and culture) within the parks. The narrative accounts
they contain imply choices that have been made regarding how much is included of
the natural and cultural sides of national parks.
Created with varying degrees of consideration
for their natural environment, national parks and their appearance are often
made to seem as natural, as predetermined as possible. This is shaped and
reinforced by the image given by travel literature.
Promotional pamphlets on national parks,
then, are important in showing the changing articulations of the idea of
national parks by the National Parks Branch, in shaping the public’s view of
national parks and their nature, as well as responding to the expectations
placed on parks by society.
from Scenic Playgrounds to Museum of Nature:
Canadian National Parks Branch and the Portrayal of
National Parks in Promotional Literature, 1911-1970
Paula Johnna Saari
December 2012
This Website is not affiliated
with Parks Canada. Due diligence has been employed in the conversion of
these documents into electronic format so as to maintain the accuracy of
the original. The electronic versions are a copy of the original
documents as published and copyrighted by the Government of Canada and
their reproduction was neither endorsed by, nor in affiliation with, the
Government of Canada nor its agencies who originally created these
works.
