A typology of the changing narratives of Canadian citizens through time.

Sobel, Nora

Abstract

This paper presents key results from a study that analyzed Canadian citizenship guides as an example of an official policy voice of the Canadian government about what it means to be a Canadian citizen and what is expected from a naturalized Canadian citizen. Six Canadian citizenship guides in the English language developed between 1947 and 2012 were analyzed by identifying the format and thematic components of the guides, and the most recurrent words and rhetorical strategies, within each contemporary historical context. Each guide constructed a narrative about what constitutes a naturalized Canadian citizen and these six individual and different narratives resulted in a historically constructed typology of naturalized Canadian citizenship: good character citizen, responsible citizen, wholesome citizen, politically active citizen, test-ready citizen, and loyal citizen.

Resume

Cet article presente les principaux resultats d'une etude qui a analyse les guides de la citoyennete canadienne a titre d'exemple d'une voix de la politique officielle du gouvernement du Canada au sujet de ce qu'etre citoyen canadien signifie et ce qui est attendu d'un citoyen canadien naturalise. Six guides de citoyennete canadienne rediges en anglais entre 1947 et 2012 ont ete analyses en identifiant le format et les composantes thematiques des guides, et les mots les plus recurrents et les strategies rhetoriques, dans chaque contexte hlstorique contemporain. Chaque guide a constru'd un recit sur ce qui constitue un citoyen canadien naturalise et ces six recits individueis et differents ont abouti a une typologie historiquement construite de la citoyennete canadienne naturalise: le citoyen de bon caractere, le citoyen responsable, le citoyen bien integre, le citoyen politiquement actif, le citoyen pret-a-tester, et le citoyen fidele.

THE SYMBOLIC MEANING OF BEING A CANADIAN CITIZEN

"O Canada! Our home and native land" are the first two phrases of the Canadian national anthem. Before the country had its current name, Canada was the home and native land of First Nations people; and then the home and native land of settlers from Great Britain and France during the colonial period, and more recently of immigrants from many regions around the world (Selman et al. 1998). Canada could be described as a country of settlers, a country of immigrants who, in time, through a process of socialization into the institutions of the country and its citizenship process, came to be naturalized and became new Canadian citizens. This process is marked by historical narratives that assign meanings to the relationships among the various peoples that make up Canada.

Therefore, the act of becoming a Canadian citizen not only refers to the legal procedure of obtaining naturalization in Canada, but also includes a symbolic meaning of what constitutes a Canadian citizen, and moreover what constitutes a good Canadian citizen. According to a national public opinion survey, "Canadians define 'citizenship' as more than having a passport, obeying the law and paying taxes. These are widely seen as key aspects of citizenship, but just as important are being active participants in one's community, helping others and accepting differences" (The Environics Institute 2012, 5).

Citizenship is a concept that faces multiple disputed meanings, with multiple connotations, and these meanings are framed by their historical contexts (Adamoski et al. 2002). The concept of citizenship is part of an ongoing debate that continues today. Why the debate? It can be argued that citizenship is strongly linked to the collective identity of a country and to discussions about what future generations should look like or aspire to be; and those debates are influenced by their contextual social, cultural and political situations (Hebert and Sears 2004). As any other country, Canada is constantly engaged in the construction of its national identity, and that entails establishing what the common Canadian identity is and also what that identity should be (Selman 1991). Canadian citizenship is always evolving and constantly being discussed, affected by various dynamics associated in part with the complex fabric of Canada that includes indigenous, francophone and Anglophone roots as well as the effect of mass migration and the "myriad rifts borne of social class, gender, race, and culture" (Adamoski et al. 2002, 22).

In more recent times, the emergence of new technologies and communication vehicles and the population and immigration patterns (Cogan 1998) may require a multidimensional citizenship, a "complex, multifaceted conceptualization" that could embody four dimensions: personal, social, temporal and spatial (Kubow et al. 1998, 117) to account for personal social experiences over time and space. In the Canadian context, this transformation driven by technology and evolving migration patterns could be leading towards a type of multiple citizenship with individuals identifying themselves as belonging not to just one but to multiple groups (Hebert and Wilkinson 2002). One way to assess this is through a study of citizenship guides produced for immigrants to the country.

Although Canada is a complex, multifaceted society that incorporates people with multiple cultural and social backgrounds, the Canadian citizenship guides articulate a shared Canadian citizenship. These guides are produced by the Government of Canada and as such it can be argued that they outline historically-situated governmental narratives about what it means to be a Canadian citizen, and what is expected from a Canadian citizen.

While there are other government expressions of Canadian citizenship (for example, press releases, public speeches, the Hansard record of parliamentary debate), the Canadian citizenship guides are educational publications provided to citizenship applicants, who are in turn required to pass a written or oral examination based on their contents in order to become Canadian citizens. Consequently, the Canadian citizenship guides make a useful object of analysis to understand the progression of official narratives about what constitutes a Canadian citizen.

This article analyzes the following six Canadian citizenship guides developed by the Government of Canada: (1) How to become a Canadian Citizen (1947) (1); 2) Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963) (2); 3) Canada. Guide for Citizenship (1976) (3); 4) The Canadian Citizen (1978) (4) and additional folder A Look at Canada (1979) (5); 5) A Look at Canada (1995) (6); and 6) Discover Canada (2009) (7). These six guides were selected because they were the first available issues (in the English language) of Canadian citizenship guides with a complete re-development of the publication content, including its name, in the period of 1947-2012.

In the analysis of the texts of these six guides, this study identifies how the selection of thematic components, most recurrent words and rhetorical strategies, within each contemporary historical context constructs a narrative about what constitutes a Canadian citizen. While this study does not advance an argument regarding which guide best captures what it means to be a Canadian citizen, or how citizenship applicants themselves understood these narratives, it rather shows how the Government of Canada portrays issues such as Canadian history, Canadian society and citizenship participation with significant continuities over a period of 65 years.

In demonstrating this argument the study is based on the following important assumptions. The first assumption is that changes in legislation or policies in the areas of immigration and citizenship are driven, at least in part, by the politicians and partisan politics of the day and federal employees in charge of producing the Canadian citizenship guides took into consideration those changes when modifying the content of the guides. The second assumption is that the drafters were immersed in their contemporary historical context when producing each of the Canadian citizenship guides. The third assumption is that the Canadian citizenship guides represent the Government of Canada's official views on citizenship--and in particular what it means to be a Canadian citizen and what is expected from a new Canadian citizen--at the time the guides were published.

RELATED RESEARCH OF OFFICIAL CITIZENSHIP DOCUMENTS

The literature review included in this study is limited to peer-reviewed work focused on Canadian citizenship guides. The search of related research resulted in a number of relevant studies which will be briefly discussed in this section: Blake (2013); Chapnick (2011); Gulliver (2011, 2012); Joyce (2014); Jafri (2012); Paquet (2012); Quirt (2003), and Wilton (2006, 2010).

Wilton's work (2006, 2010) presents a semiological approach using van Dijk's Critical Discourse Analysis framework (2001) in which texts are examined for linguistic, cultural, social, and political significance. Wilton (2006) studies the citizenship guide A Look at Canada (2004) and the publication A Newcomer's Introduction to Canada (2002) to analyze how the notion of immigrant constructs the us (Canadian) and the other (alien). More recently, Wilton (2010) uses the same methodology and documents to study the state culture, the values projected by the state included in policies and publications over time. Wilton's work is limited to only one Canadian citizenship guide and it does not provide a comparison of Canadian citizenship guides over time. Gulliver (2011, 2012) also uses analysis methods based on van Dijk's critical discourse theory. In his first paper (2011), Gulliver studies the Canadian citizenship guides A Look at Canada (2007) and Discover Canada (2009) using the AntConc program, a text analysis software, to identify concordances related to how the texts construct what it is means to be Canadian. The analysis yields a list of characteristics, most notably social unity, value for diversity, equality, hard work and respect for the military, to name a few.

In Gulliver's subsequent work (2012), he connects the Canadian citizenship guides A Look at Canada (2006) and Discover Canada (2009) with newspaper articles in a twelve-month span (June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011) and with Government of Canada operational bulletins, ministerial speeches and press releases between 2010 and 2012. Gulliver's primary hypothesis is that government documents represent the dominant (hegemonic) view in terms of citizenship and what it means to be Canadian, and that there is an increasing connection between citizenship and the Canadian Armed Forces in the citizenship guides content as well as the participation of military or police personnel in Citizenship swearing-in ceremonies. As with Wilton's work, Gulliver's studies are restricted to the most recent Canadian citizenship guides and they do not provide an historical view of the evolution of these documents. Joyce (2014) also compares the Canadian citizenship guides A Look at Canada (2005) and Discover Canada (2011) and presents a text and symbolic analysis to posit that there is an important shift from the 2005 guide that presents Canada as a peace-seeking nation to the 2011 guide that presents an assertive and militaristic Canada. The text analysis is conducted primarily via thematic groupings, and does not utilize software or a more structured semiological analysis.

Jafri (2012) presents a content analysis of the Canadian citizenship guide Discover Canada (2009 and subsequent re-edition of 2011) utilizing a critical discourse analysis lens to establish how the citizenship guide presents highly ideological ideas on what it means to be Canadian and how those ideas connect with transnational issues such as the so-called "war on terror". Jafri analyzes only one guide and does not compare previous guides or provide any historical review of previous publications. Blake (2013) also focuses his efforts on studying the Canadian citizenship guide Discover Canada (2009) and how it highlights an integrationist agenda in detriment of multiculturalism as a key attribute of Canadian citizenship, comparing it with the citizenship guides published in the 1995-2010 timespan. The methodology presented by Blake could be described as content analysis with an added focus on political history and how political events shaped the content of the guide. However, there are no semiological tools employed in this research document.

While the previous works concentrate on studying one or two guides in a narrow period of time, Chapnick (2011) does provide a longitudinal review of Canadian citizenship guides. Chapnick does not implement a semiological text analysis, focusing instead on a high-level morphological content description that looks for section titles and topics. Chapnick's work contends that the Canadian citizenship guide Discover Canada (2009) may be different than its immediate predecessors but it contains many common features and content that were present in previous guides more distant in time.

Quirt (2003) is interested in how the federal government portrays national values in Canadian citizenship applications forms and utilizes rhetorical analysis tools to study these documents, focusing on the metaphor of biculturalism (understood as British and French heritage). While this study also utilizes rhetorical analysis, the focus is on Canadian citizenship application forms. Paquet (2012) focuses her analysis on the Government of Canada's citizenship test questions and compares it to the United Kingdom's citizenship test as examples of public policy documents. Paquet's efforts are directed at establishing how these documents, as well as the citizenship guides, are linked to governmental public policy, how they express those policies, and how they may carry out those policies' intentions, specifically about access to citizenship. Paquet's work supports one of the key assumptions of this study which is the view that citizenship guides can be seen as the "voice" of the government at the time of their publication.

In sum, while several authors have recently studied Canadian citizenship guides using critical discourse theory or content analysis, and to a lesser degree historical and sociological research frameworks, this study implements a semiological approach based on the analysis of the most recurrent words and rhetorical figures present in Canadian citizenship guides over a much longer timeline.

THE SEMIOLOGICAL APPROACH: UNPACKING UNITS OF MEANING

This qualitative study employs a semiological approach that analyzes the messages emitted with the intention of transmitting meanings, and seeks to unpack those units of meaning. Semiology could be classified as a structural theory set in the realm of the emitter (in this case the Government of Canada); therefore, this study focusses on how the Canadian citizenship guides act as an example of the communicational intentions of the Government of Canada as the emitter of the guides, without addressing if the intended effects were achieved in the receiver, the readers of the guides.

Three key semiological concepts are employed in this study. The first one is the social semiosis paradigm developed by Veron (1993), who distinguishes between the production of information and its recognition, affirming that there is a grammar defined as a set of rules for the production of language, as well as a grammar for its recognition by the receiver (Veron 1993,189). Even though it is impossible to know how a specific individual will understand a message, there are elements in the narrative that make it possible to attain certain levels of common understanding. Emitter and receiver need a historically-mediated context in order to make sense of the information produced and decoded: That space, in which the production and recognition grammars overlap, in a historical context, is the social semiosis.

The historical context is also an important element of the second semiological concept, the notion of myth developed by Barthes (1972). When studying the Canadian citizenship guides as an example of an official policy voice of the Canadian government about what it means to be a Canadian citizen, this voice is historically situated. At the same time that a specific guide teaches lessons about citizenship, it builds an image of what it means to be a Canadian citizen at that particular moment. This creation of meaning is what Barthes calls a myth. The myth has a historical context but is presented in a manner that naturalizes (or masks) the work of creating a politically and historically charged narrative: The myth reads as an expression of factual self-evident truth (Barthes 1972, 107), a feat accomplished by replacing meaning through rhetorical operations.

The third semiological component of this study is the modern application of rhetorical analysis focusing on the concept of metaboles developed by Dubois et al. (1981). The task of rhetorical analysis is to take a text, which is the highest level of semiological articulation, and separate its contents into smaller units until there is no more possible meaning to be extracted. Dubois et al. (1981) attempted to establish those absolute minimal units, developing a categorization of metaboles, which are figures of rhetoric.

BUILDING BLOCKS TO CONSTRUCT NARRATIVES

Based on the previous theoretical framework, the methodology for this research project includes the following four steps: a) historical context; b) morphological and semantic description; c) rhetorical analysis, and d) discussion of the construction of the narrative. These four steps are presented below from the more discrete units of analysis to the final goal of producing narratives.

Step I--Historical context: Given that myths are historically-situated narratives (Barthes 1972), this study starts with a historical background that included a social and political overview and a description of relevant immigration and citizenship legislation and trends contemporary to each Canadian Citizenship Guide.

Step II--Morphological and semantic description: This step includes a morphological description of the form and structure of the guide that identified the print format, cover features, sections and thematic components. This step also includes a semantic description done through Tropes (Semantic Knowledge 2012), a qualitative data analysis computer program that was used as a data aggregator to identify categorizations of substantives, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, and connectors; the most frequent verbs, adjectives and substantives, and the most frequent words used as actants (references before the verb that carries out the action) and actors (references after the verb that are subjected to the action). This semantic analysis software performed the same search in all the texts, thereby ensuring consistency in retrieving relevant information.

Step III--Rhetorical analysis: Given that myths are built on the foundation of rhetoric (Barthes 1972), the analysis of the Canadian citizenship guides employs the analysis of metaboles which are figures of rhetoric that change the expression or content in a text (Dubois et al. 1981). This study focuses on the metasememes (usually at the level of the word) and metalogisms (usually at the level of the sentence, paragraph or more); both these strategies deal with the content in a text (Dubois et al. 1981). The main figures of rhetoric employed in this study include:

* Metaphor: Modification of the semantic content of a term achieved by an intersection between two terms,

* Metonymy: Transfer of the noun by contiguity of meanings,

* Oxymoron: Contradiction between two close words,

* Synecdoche: Generalization or particularization of meaning (from the part to the whole, from lesser to greater, and viceversa),

* Allegory: Use of metaphor or particularizing synecdoche with the aim of disguising or simplifying meaning,

* Antithesis: Use of repetition opposing terms that present a common element,

* Litotes: Defined as saying less but implying a much dense, larger meaning,

* Hyperbole: Defined as augmenting the meaning,

* Euphemism: A combination of litotes and hyperbole used at the same time to simplify and exemplify meaning, and

* Paradox: Play on words with the objective of defusing the precise meaning.

Step IV--Discussion of the construction of the narrative: The last step is to construct narratives of what it means to be a Canadian citizen and what is expected from a Canadian citizen, based on studying the Canadian citizenship guides through the lens of the historical information and semiological analysis from the previous three steps.

The methodological limitations of this study reside in its speculative character. The data collected is analyzed through a forensic approach and interpreted by the researcher, and while the interpretation is based on well-established linguistic and rhetorical methods, its claims lack independent confirmation. That confirmation would require interviewing the individuals in charge of writing the guides to verify that the intentions of the Canadian citizenship guides align with the results of the semiological analysis. Given the historical period covered in this study, in the case of the early publications it would be difficult to interview the drafters of those guides.

By centering the analysis on how those guides constructed a narrative in terms of what a citizen applicant should know about Canadian citizenship and what behaviours are expected from the new citizen, this research project does not tackle the actual decoding of the information by the prospective citizens.

Given the scope of this research project, this study does not include the semiological analysis of the illustrations, photographs, graphs and maps included in the Canadian citizenship guides, which could be used to compare the textual narratives discussed in this study with visual narratives that those images present.

CANADIAN CITIZEN: SIX DIFFERENT NARRATIVES

This study presents a longitudinal analysis of six Canadian citizenship guides over a time span of 65 years. The development of each guide was immersed in a social semiosis affected by social and political issues, and specific immigration and citizenship legislation and trends. To fulfil the methodological step I, Table 1 (see Appendix) shows non-exhaustive, key historical matters immediately pre-dating the issuance of each guide.

As part of the methodological step II, Table 2 (see Appendix) shows the key morphological components of the six Canadian citizenship guides analyzed in this study, including both the print format of the publications and their thematic components. Table 3 (see Appendix) shows the key semantic components of the six Canadian citizenship guides analyzed in this study, including the most frequent verbs, adjectives, substantives, actants and actors.

The methodological step III included the analysis of 70 metaboles across the six Canadian citizenship guides included in the study, and Tables 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 (see Appendix) show the most salient metaboles analyzed in each of the six guides.

Following the examination of the guides through the lens of the historical information and semiological analysis from the previous three methodological steps, this study identifies six different myths, historically-situated narratives of a new Canadian citizen: the good character citizen, the responsible citizen, the wholesome citizen, the politically active citizen, the test-ready citizen, and the loyal citizen.

The good character citizen (1947)

The good character citizen narrative permeates the How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition). In this regard, several rhetorical figures show that to convert from alien (one of the most frequent actants in the text with 25 mentions and a frequent adjective appearing 14 times in the text) to a citizen, the candidate needs to show adequate knowledge of either English or French and also needs to understand the responsibilities and privileges of Canadian citizenship. Furthermore, the applicant should display good character as determined by the citizenship judge. The meaning of what constitutes a good character citizen is somewhat ambiguous based on the use of a paradox in its definition: Good character is determined by each citizenship judge and therefore no uniformity can be pre-established. The emitter constructs a reader that is loyal to Canada above any other loyalty that he/she may have had in the past, and embraces and practices the social and cultural customs that are mostly linked to Western Europe, and more precisely the United Kingdom, the most frequent actant in the text with 65 mentions.

In terms of citizenship participation, the How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition) does not ask the new citizen to be involved in any specific activity, which is reflected in the thematic components of the guide with focus on citizenship procedures (46% of the guide's content), Canadian history and geography (18%), the government system (7%) and the economy (4%). It could be said that the emitter implies that a citizen of good character is one who is loyal to Canada, accepts the Canadian customs that stem from the Commonwealth history, and obeys the Canadian laws, all of which were part of the debates around immigrant integration to Canadian society at that time. These conditions are what the prospective citizen needs to do to obtain full and complete membership in the Canadian family, a metaphor presented in the foreword of the guide that represents belonging to Canadian society.

The responsible citizen (1963)

The narrative of the Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition) is that of the responsible citizen. The text in this guide provides greater certainty than the How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition) in terms of what to expect of the judge's examination: Beyond good character, a trait that remains part of the judge's assessment, the focus is placed on the responsibilities and privileges of a citizen (in that order), and ensuring that the person applying for citizenship is indeed planning to stay in Canada and be loyal to the country. Becoming a citizen is presented as a privilege that is given to those who are planning to invest long-term in being Canadian, with two additional requirements: The prospective citizen should be law-abiding, as exemplified by a generalizing synecdoche and euphemism that presents obeying the lews as the opinion of most Canadians and not only the authors of the guide; and the prospective citizen should be also committed to the values of western democracy, as can be seen in an allegory that presents Canadians as a people that desire to live under a democratic form of government. Given the Cold War context and the discussions about Canada's international role as a middle power in which this guide was drafted, highlighting western democracy is a logical strategy to communicate to new citizens the type of political and social organization they should support in order to be recognized as responsible and conscientious Canadians. The common thread in the various sections of the guide seemed to be the notion of responsibility, a concept that permeates the text when it presents history, society, the political system and the expectations the guide places on the new citizen.

The Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition) presents citizenship as full membership in Canadian society. The Tropes software parsing shows that the word member is a frequent actor of the text (45 mentions), as well as a frequent substantive (46 mentions). There is less focus than in the How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition) on the actual mechanics of acquiring Canadian citizenship and more descriptions of expected behaviours (the guide features a dedicated section on citizenship rights and responsibilities representing 6% of the total content). The baseline for the new citizen seems to be paid employment and upholding the law. Moderation may also be valued: The rights of others may sometimes trump individual rights, and consideration for others is portrayed as the mark of a good citizen which is supported by the presence of the word group as a frequent actant with 39 mentions. Despite proposing this baseline, the text places higher expectations on the new citizen than was the case in the How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition). Believing in democracy--as understood in western societies--and defending that way of life was important for the emitter. The text also highlights the importance of volunteering and voting, providing detailed explanations of the electoral process. The new citizen is invited to vote, but not to engage further in the political process: The main thrust for engagement in society seems to be through volunteering.

The wholesome citizen (1976)

The wholesome citizen describes the narrative of Canada. Guide for Citizenship publication (1976 edition). The guide places the reader in a central role: The new citizen is assumed to be an active learner about his/her new country, as presented in a euphemism that tacitly requests the reader to be actively learning about Canada. The guide also acknowledges that immigrants enrich the local culture with their own heritage, and that they should actively participate in the community as part of Canada's wholesome democratic process. Despite the acknowledgments on how diverse cultures enhance Canadian society, the guide places English and French on a higher semantic level than other languages, as seen in the litotes that present fluency on French and English as bilingualism, leaving any other language as belonging to other cultural groups. Furthermore to this rhetorical figure, this is the first citizenship guide in this study where the entire content is in both official languages. The higher semantic value placed on English and French and the fact that the guide features equal amounts of information in both official languages could be linked to its historical context, characterized by intense political action and debates regarding the sovereignty movement in Quebec.

The Canada. Guide for Citizenship publication (1976 edition) provides six specific behaviours regarding the characteristics of this wholesome citizen: community involvement, investment in the common good, obeying the law, respecting other people's rights, being informed on current affairs, and using one's talents to solve social problems. This active role of the citizen could be seen in the use of the word people as the most frequent actant with 38 mentions. The text also provides a list of ways that a citizen can contact elected officials or seek changes in policy or government action, not only informing but encouraging the reader to use these tools. This view of the new citizen as an informed and engaged individual can also be found in the section of the guide that presents the rights of Canadian citizens: Voting is presented as an important right, but unlike the previous guides analyzed in this study, this version adds the right to stand for office at all levels of government and the text encourages the reader to exercise that right. It also links active citizenship with the future of Canada and the well-being of the family of the reader. In short, the chosen set of citizen characteristics is much more aspirational--and demanding--than in previous guides.

The politically active citizen (1978)

The narrative of the politically active citizen informs The Canadian Citizen (1978 edition) and the companion folder A Look at Canada (1979 edition). The majority of the guide's content focuses on the political process and the need of the Canadian citizen to be politically active and seek the betterment of laws and regulations, a notion supported by the high proportion of the content that features the government system (44% of the guide) and citizenship rights and responsibilities (18%). The importance given to politics and the political process in this guide can be seen in the way it presents the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Rights are portrayed as privileges, and these privileges are divided into two categories: citizenship privileges, and a separate section on special political privileges. These political privileges are voting, joining a political party, or running for political office, and they are given a higher status than what is called more administrative privileges, such as carrying a Canadian passport. The semantic analysis showed Vote as the second most frequent actant (23 mentions), while Representative (31 mentions) and Election (22 mentions) were among the 10 most frequent actors. Election was also one of the most frequent substantives with 21 mentions. Also, the verb to vote makes it to the top ten most frequent verbs, with 22 mentions. The guide utilizes hyperbole to highlight the importance of voting to the reader as a selection process that ultimately affects the lives of all citizens.

The Canadian Citizen (1978 edition) shares with the Canada. Guide for Citizenship publication (1976 edition) the requirement for the new citizen to be well informed on the issues of the day and to consider volunteering, but it increases the type and level of expectations with regard to political involvement. If, in the Canada. Guide for Citizenship publication (1976 edition), the reader was told that being well informed is what makes a citizen a good citizen, The Canadian Citizen (1978 edition) further embellishes this quality by equating good citizenship to an active interest in politics and public opinion, as seen in a euphemism that describes the behaviours of current citizens as actively seeking to grow together. An example of this enhanced expectation is that this guide not only assumes that the reader is following the news; it also encourages the reader to write letters to the editor or attend meetings where social change is discussed. This guide portrays new Canadian citizens as individuals with full ownership of the country: Canada is yours (the reader's) and it is the reader's responsibility to be active in the political arena. The historical context around the time this guide was produced was one of active political debate with strained relationships between the Federal Government and the Province of Quebec.

The test-ready citizen (1995)

The narrative of the test-ready citizen pervades A Look at Canada guide (1995 edition). This publication is the first guide produced after the Government of Canada changed the citizenship granting process from an interview with a judge to a written exam that requires a minimum number of correct answers in order to successfully become a Canadian citizen. When producing this guide, the Government of Canada was seeking higher levels of immigration and the interview process with judges became increasingly resource-demanding at a time of economic austerity. On the text analysis level, an important semiological change found in this guide is a reduction in rhetorical figures compared to previous versions. This change can be interpreted as an effort by the emitter to assist the reader to better understand the content of the guide, since it can be argued that rhetorical figures require a more complex level of language proficiency. If the guide is now the primary source of learning and is linked to a written exam, a reduction of figures of speech seems a reasonable outcome. A rhetorical instrument is used by the text to refer to the citizenship test results, with a euphemism via litotes that skirts mentioning the pass/fail system and instead focuses on declaring that the citizenship candidates will be informed if they are successful passing the test. In this sense, the reader of this guide is presented as a test-ready citizen preparing for a written standardized test, a position further supported by the inclusion of an entire section with study questions representing 16% of the content of the guide. Furthermore, the very introduction of the guide sets the parameters for the reader: "This book is meant to help you to prepare for your citizenship test. It is also for anyone who would like a basic introduction to Canada" (Citizenship and Immigration Canada 1995, 2). It could be argued that this paragraph creates a hierarchy in which passing the test comes first.

A Look at Canada guide (1995 edition) differs from The Canadian Citizen (1978 edition) in its reduction of the expectations for the new citizen. Citizenship continues to be presented as active participation in civil society, but the amount of text and the rhetorical figures linked to citizenship actions seem more generic and less imperative than what was found in The Canadian Citizen guide (1978 edition). A euphemism via litotes is utilized to equate citizenship to being a part of Canada, with participation and citizenship expectations being actually closer to the Canada. Guide for Citizenship (1976 edition), with the concept of citizenship divided between rights and responsibilities. While the examples chosen by the emitter do include political activities, it could be argued that actions such as helping your neighbour and running for office are presented on the same narrative playfield. Citizenship rights and responsibilities are presented more as an itemized listing of options than as a guideline for action, possibly due to the fact that the reader is now studying for a written exam that requires a minimum threshold of correct answers to obtain Canadian citizenship. A Look at Canada guide (1995 edition) seems to be more about helping readers pass the test than eliciting specific behaviours after the candidate becomes a citizen.

The loyal citizen (2009)

The loyal citizen narrative presides throughout the Discover Canada guide (2009 edition). The guide describes the government system, explaining the operation of a Federal State and Parliamentary Democracy. The text also includes what could be considered the lengthiest explanation of Constitutional monarchy of all the analyzed guides, in this case presented as part of a tradition that links Canada with the 52 nations of the Commonwealth, with the description also featuring a complex antithesis figure linking loyalty to Canada with the Sovereign (Queen or King). This guide also departs from previous texts by giving a more central role to the armed forces and provincial and municipal law-enforcement organizations, something that could be linked to the contemporary debates about security after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and discussions about sovereignty in Canada's arctic region. While previous guides have information and highlight the work of the armed forces, the Discover Canada guide (2009 edition) is the first to explicitly encourage the reader to join the military or police forces, even utilizing a euphemism via litotes as a means to elevate the value of joining the armed forces for new Canadians, describing enlisting as noble. It is also important to note that this text introduces the various mainstream religious groups established in Canada. This text also signals a return and enhancement of historical topics in the citizenship guide: As shown in the matrix with the results from the morphological description of the guides, 30 percent of the text in this guide is presented as Canadian history, the highest percentage of all the guides reviewed in this study regardless of page length or time period, and also supported by the presence for the first time of the word history as one of the most frequent actants (28 mentions). In sum, this guide equates becoming a citizen to being a loyal adopter of Canada's traditions and values as articulated by the text.

The Discover Canada guide (2009 edition) is also the first of the analyzed guides to include the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in its subtitle, and they are presented to the reader in the first pages of the guide as part of a great western-European tradition that traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215. Notably, the words United Kingdom (47 mentions) and England (31 mentions) are two of the most frequent actors. The rights of citizens listed in the text are based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: mobility rights, Aboriginal Peoples' rights, official language rights and minority language educational rights, and multiculturalism. This list focuses on individual responsibilities: obeying the law, taking responsibility for oneself and one's family (including getting a job which contributes to personal dignity and Canada's prosperity), serving on a jury, voting in elections, helping others in the community (volunteering), protecting and enjoying our heritage and the environment, and defending Canada. Political action, broadly present in the The Canadian Citizen guide (1978 edition) and less so in the A Look at Canada guide (1995 edition), is no longer part of the narrative, other than as a reference to voting.

ANALYSIS: CONTINUITIES AND DISRUPTIONS OF THE NARRATIVES OVER TIME

The results from the longitudinal analysis of the Canadian citizenship guides support the notion that the narratives regarding what behaviours the new citizen should display are impacted by their contemporary political and societal debates. However, at a macro-level it can be said that from 1947 to 2012 there were more continuities than disruptions in the construction of the narratives about what it means to be a Canadian citizen and expected citizenship participation. In other words: Specific guides highlight different aspects of citizenship behaviour, but certain expected behaviours are present in one way or another in all of the studied guides.

All analyzed guides encourage the new citizen to adapt to what could be described as Canadian values. The most salient values that seem to be present in all the guides are the acknowledgement of the Crown as a unique form of effective democracy, voting as the way to choose representatives, the need to respect the outcome of the elections, volunteering in the community and, starting in the Canada. Guide for Citizenship publication (1976 edition) and continuing in all the analyzed guides moving forward, acknowledging national public holidays.

While the expectation of adapting to Canadian values is portrayed in all guides, each publication presents this adaptation with different lenses. The How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition) requires the reader to adopt the host country culture and values privately and publicly. The Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition) divides the host country expectation of the new citizen, requiring him or her to adopt publicly the traditions and values of the host culture while allowing individuals to keep their own traditions privately, with no government interference. The Canada. Guide for Citizenship publication (1976 edition), The Canadian Citizen guide (1978 edition), A Look at Canada (1995 edition), and Discover Canada (2009 edition) were published after the Multiculturalism policy established in 1971 and they all expect that the new citizen would adopt Canada's cultural and social traditions publicly, while at the same time the government would support each cultural group so they can maintain their own language and traditions and share them with the rest of the society when and where appropriate.

All the analyzed guides mention that citizenship entails rights (sometimes called privileges) and responsibilities (sometimes called disabilities). The most prevalent privileges are to vote and carry a Canadian passport, while the common responsibilities found across the guides are obedience to the laws and volunteerism. All the analyzed guides also contain information on topics that may be considered part of a civics education curriculum, specifically content related to how democracy works in Canada, the structure of government, voting procedures, law-abidance and respect for individual rights. It could be further argued that five of the six guides--Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition), Canada. Guide for Citizenship (1976 edition), The Canadian Citizen guide (1978 edition), A Look at Canada (1995 edition) and Discover Canada (2009 edition)--include not only elements pertaining to civics education, but also what may be considered citizenship education topics: volunteerism, multiculturalism, the individual's responsibility with fellow citizens, and human rights. It is important to note that while the Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition), A Look at Canada (1995 edition) and Discover Canada (2009 edition) mention these citizenship education topics, the Canada. Guide for Citizenship (1976 edition) and The Canadian Citizen guides (1978 edition) go beyond mentioning the topics and actively ask the reader to take action on citizenship education topics.

There are disruptions in the way that the analyzed guides present the views on what constitutes positive citizenship behaviours and what the new citizen is expected to do after Canadian citizenship is granted. The How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition) presents what can be described as a view of a citizen that is law abiding and whose allegiance is with Canada over the country of birth/origin. The publication Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition) seems to highlight the importance of western democracy as a value and the standard of living that a nascent welfare state is bringing to all Canadians, a choice that could have been influenced by the Cold War. The Canada. Guide for Citizenship (1976 edition) and The Canadian Citizen guide (1978 edition) break from the previous guides on the issue of expectations, adding a political activism and the importance of working towards social justice as key aspects of a 'good' citizen. The A Look at Canada guide (1995 edition) reduces significantly the political expectations for the new citizen, while still keeping social justice as a value that citizens should strive for. It could be said that the Discover Canada guide (2009 edition) returns to the position seen in the Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition), with the addition of joining the military or a law enforcement agency as a positive action that citizens should consider.

The results from this longitudinal analysis uncovers that there are many similarities between guides that are historically quite far apart in time. Instead of a progression of changes and focus, the ebbs and flows of content among guides is not linear. The narrative of the loyal citizen present in the Discover Canada guide (2009 edition) has strong similarities with the narrative of responsible citizen present in the Guide to Canadian Citizenship (1963 edition) and the narrative of the good character citizen present in the How to become a Canadian Citizen guide (1947 edition). These guides highlight the individual responsibilities that come with adopting Canadian citizenship.

In contrast, the narrative of the wholesome citizen present in the Canada. Guide for Citizenship publication (1976 edition) and the narrative of the politically active citizen present in The Canadian Citizen guide (1978 edition) both encourage new citizens to be active members of the political and social process, including pursuing changes in laws or becoming candidates for an elected position. These guides emphasize community participation and political involvement more than encouraging new citizens to be loyal to their adoptive country.

While the narrative of the test-ready citizen described in the A look at Canada guide (1995 edition) contains information about the political process and volunteering, it could be argued that this guide focuses on helping the reader prepare and approve the newly established citizenship test above another expectation.

CONCLUSION

This study builds a semiological analysis methodology that allows for a longitudinal study spanning 65 years of Canadian citizenship guides, taking into consideration the historical context in which each guide was produced. This methodological framework is used to establish macro-level continuities and disruptions in the way each of the analyzed guides constructed the key characteristics and behaviours expected of a Canadian citizen through time. The social semiosis concept grounds each of the studied guides in its historical discourse, while the Tropes software unpacks the units of meaning of each guide. Using Dubois' rhetorical analysis of metaboles and Barthes' definition of myth as the analytical lens, this study identifies macro-level characteristics that each guide presents as the most salient aspects of Canadian citizenship.

The analysis shows that while the political and historical climate affects the content organization and presentation of each of the analyzed citizenship guides, there is a remarkable continuity in the way the guides define what the Government of Canada expects from its citizens. There is coherence and stability in themes and expected behaviours that cross political debates and political parties.

This methodological approach can be employed by other researchers who can refine this methodological toolkit and further study Canadian citizenship guides or any other document that has been revised on numerous occasions through time.

APPENDIX

TABLE 1. Matrix with key historical events
shaping the context of the guides

                           1947                     1963

Social and        --Post-World War II      --Building the
Political           time                     framework of a
Issues                                       welfare state
                  --Economic
                    prosperity             --Cold War

                  --Debates about          --Quebec's quiet
                    definition of            revolution
                    Canadian nationality
                                           --International role
                  --Debates around           as "middle power"
                    immigrant                aligned with United
                    integration to           States
                    Canadian society

Immigration       --First Canadian         --Immigration
and Citizenship     citizenship              regulations (1962)
Legislation and     guide                    opened opportunities
Trends                                       to immigrants
                  --Enactment of the         outside of Europe
                    Citizenship
                    Act(1946)              --Shift In
                                             immigration
                  --Active immigration       immigrant settling
                    recruitment policy       in urban centres
                    (selective, skills       instead of rural
                    based, European          areas
                    preferred)
                                           --Bill for the
                                             "Recognition and
                                             protection of Human
                                             Rights and
                                             Fundamental
                                             Freedoms" (1960)

                           1976                     1978

Social and        --Political              --Strained relations
Political           disagreements            between the
Issues              with United              federal and Quebec
                    foreign affairs
                    (Vietnam)              --Improved relations
                                             with United States
                  --Sovereignty
                    movement in            --High inflation and
                                             high government
                  --October Crisis           debt
                    (1970)

                  --Women's Rights
                    movement

                  --Native Rights
                    movement

Immigration       --Points system is       --Immigration
and Citizenship     introduced with new      Act(1976) approved
Legislation and     immigration              unanimously by
Trends              regulations (1967)       Parliament

                  --New regulations        --Inclusion of
                    are proactively          refugees as a new
                    non-discriminatory       immigrant class
                    which resulted in
                    more diverse           --Provinces now
                    immigrant                consulted in
                    intake                   immigration issues

                  --Official Languages
                    Act (1919) makes       --Economic downturn
                    bilingualism             affected immigration
                    official                 levels

                  --Multiculturalism       --Citizenship Act
                    policy (1971)            (1977) promises
                                             equal treatment to
                                             all applicants

                           1995                     2009

Social and        --End of Cold War        --September 11
Political                                    terrorist attacks in
Issues            --Quebec separatist        United States
                    defeated in
                    referendums (1980      --Debates about
                    and 1995)                terrorism and
                                             terrorist attacks in
                  --Canada Act (1982)        United States
                    repatriates the
                    Constitution           --Revised defense
                                             policies for Canada's
                  --Charter of Rights        arctic region to
                    and Freedoms             assert sovereignty

                  --Economic               --Internet era
                    challenges with high
                    inflation,             --Gay Rights
                    unemployment, and        achieved judicial
                    energy crisis            and legislative
                                             victories
                  --Meech Lake
                    Accord(1987) and       --Economic upturn,
                    Charlottetown Accord     ending in 2008
                    (1992) defeated
                                           --Compensation and
                  --North American           official apology to
                    Free Trade Agreement     Chinese community in
                    (NAFTA) (1992)           Canada for the
                                             Chinese Head Tax and
                                             Exclusion Act

Immigration       --First Canadian         --Provincial Nominee
and Citizenship     citizenship guide to     Programs
Legislation and     be tested by a
Trends              written exam           --Immigration and
                                             Refugee Protection
                  --Moderate increase        Act (2001), revising
                    in immigration           the Points System
                    levels
                                           --Majority of
                  --Debates about            immigrants come from
                    perceived high           Asia and non-
                    levels of refugee        European countries
                    claims
                                           --Immigration and
                  --Increasing numbers       Refugee Protection
                    of newcomers from        Act (z008 revision)
                    Asia and other non-      gives more authority
                    European areas           to the Minister
                                             responsible for
                  --Canadian                 Immigration
                    Multiculturalism
                    Act (1985)             --Amendments to the
                                             Citizenship Act
                  --Immigration Plan         (2009)
                    (1990) seeking
                    250,000 individuals
                    a year

TABLE 2. Matrix with results from morphological description

             1947                     1963

Print        --62 pages black         --94 pages black
Format         and white                and white

             --half letter size       --half letter size

             --Times New              --Times New
               Roman font style         Roman font style

             --no pictures,           --36 pictures, 3
               illustrations,           maps, 2 graphs, and
               maps or graphs           a large folded map
                                        of Canada in colour
                                        at the back of the
                                        publication

Thematic     --Citizenship            --Government
Components     Procedures (46%)         System (22%)

             --Study                  --Society (20%)
               Questions (25%)
                                      --Economy
             --History (9%)             (17%)

             --Geography (9%)         --History (17%)

             --Government             --Citizenship
               System (7%)              Responsibilities
                                        (6%)
             --Economy (4%)
                                      --Citizenship
                                        Procedures
                                        (4%)

             1976                     1978

Print        --34 pages               --16 pages
Format
             --colour                 --colour

             --7 1/2 inches by 7      --letter size
               1/2 inches
                                      --mix of a bold
             --Arial font style         serif font for the
                                        large titles and
             --32 pictures and          Anal font for the
               1 small map              subtitles and text

             --Guide contains         --4 composed
               text in both             illustrations, and 4
               official languages       graphs (one of them
               (English and French)     a 2-page map of
                                        Canada)

                                      --Guide contains
                                        text in both
                                        official languages
                                        (English and French)

                                      --companion folder
                                        in colour, the size
                                        of 8 letter pages

Thematic     --Society (26%)          --Government
Components                              System (44%)
             --Geography
             (26%)                    --Citizenship
                                        Rights and
             --History (15%)            Responsibilities
                                        (18%)
             --Government
               System (15%)           --History (17%)

             --Foreign Affairs (7%)   --Introduction (9%)

             --Citizenship            --Society (4%)
               Rights and
               Responsibilities (7%)  --Geography (4%)

             --Introduction (4%)      --Economy (4%)

             1995                     2009

Print        --44 pages               --62 pages colour
Format
             --black and white        --letter size

             --letter size            --mix of a bold
                                        serif font for the
             --mix of a bold            large titles and
               serif font for the       Arial font for the
               large titles and         subtitles
               Anal font for the
               subtitles              --169 pictures
                                        displayed
             --13 pictures, 12          individually or as a
               illustrations or         group, 2 graphs, and
               composite                1 map
               illustrations, 8
               maps, 1 logo, and 2
               graphs

Thematic     --Government             --History (30%)
Components     System (21%)
                                      --Government System
             --Study                    (22%)
               Questions (16%)
                                      --Society (17%)
             --Society (14%)
                                      --Economy (4%)

             --Economy (14%)          --Citizenship
                                        Rights and
             --Citizenship              Responsibilities
               Rights and               (4%)
               Responsibilities
               (12%)                  --Citizenship
                                        Procedures (4%)
             --History (5%)
                                      --Introduction (2%)
             --Citizenship
               Procedures (3%)

             --Introduction
               (1%)

TABLE 3. Matrix with results from semantic
description (frequency)

               1947                        1963

Most           "Be"(371)                   "Be" (521)
frequent       "Have" (80)                 "Have" (70)
verbs          "Must" (71)                 "Come" (38)
               "May" (57)                  "May" (37)
               "Reside" (37)               "Do" (34)
               "Make" (37)                 "Include" (33)
               "Shall"(35)                 "Make" (31)
               "Become" (34)               "Give"(26)
               "Grant" (27)                "Take"(25)
               "Do" (26)                   "Must" (23)
               "Lead" (18)

Most           "Canadian" (97)             "Other" (84)
frequent       "Provincial" (36)           "Large"(61)
adjectives     "Such"(29)                  "Many" (58)
               "Large"(20)                 "Important" (50)
               "Other" (19)                "Great" (48)
               "Same" (18)                 "All" (39)
               "Permanent" (15)            "Canadian" (37)
               "Born" (15)                 "Provincial" (37)
               "Both" (15)                 "Main" (27)
               "Part" (14)                 "Municipal" (27)
               "Each" (14)                 "National" (22)
               "Alien" (14)
               "All" (14)

Most           "Canada"(197)               "Canada"(271)
frequent       "Citizen" (115)             "Province" (107)
substantives   "Canadian" (115)            "Government" (86)
               "Province"(95)              "Canadian" (61)
               "Year"(69)                  "Member" (46)
               "Court" (69)
               "Act" (68)
               "Government" (63)
               "Petition" (59)
               "Member" (41)
               "House of Commons" (41)
               "Secretary or State" (40)

Most           "United Kingdom" (65)       "Canada"(578)
frequent       "Child" (45)                "Canadian" (61)
actants        "Person" (39)               "France"(55)
               "Case" (37)                 "City" (54)
               "Subject" (29)              "United Kingdom" (53)
               "Population" (28)           "Group"(39)
               "Alien" (25)                "Council" (36)
               "Woman" (25)                "Act"(34)
               "Area" (23)                 "Name" (27)
               "Naturalness" (22)          "Person" (26)
               "Head of Government" (15)

Most           "Canada"(386)               "Canada"(565)
frequent       "Citizenship" (159)         "Province"(107)
actors         "Certificate" (142)         "Government" (94)
               "Citizen" (122)             "Country" (63)
               "Canadian" (115)            "Canadian" (61)
               "Province" (95)             "People"(58)
               "Government" (90)           "Part" (50)
               "Tribunal" (76)             "Member" (45)
               "Year"(69)                  "Citizen" (43)
               "Act" (68)

               1976                        1978

Most           "Be" (177)                  "Be" (136)
frequent       "Have" (43)                 "Have" (45)
verbs          "Become" (17)               "Can"(32)
               "Include" (17)              "Vote"(22)
               "Make" (13)                 "Do" (17)
               "Provide" (12)              "Make" (15)
               "Can"(12)                   "Come" (14)
               "Do" (12)                   "Live"(13)
               "Come" (11)                 "Will" (13)
               "Live" (9)                  "Become" (11)

Most           "Large"(32)                 "Other" (23)
frequent       "Other" (29)                "All" (22)
adjectives     "Many" (26)                 "Many" (18)
               "All" (19)                  "Politic" (18)
               "Canadian" (17)             "Provincial" (18)
               "Important" (17)            "Federal" (17)
               "New" (16)                  "Canadian" (13)
               "Provincial" (14)           "Each"(12)
               "Cultural" (14)             "Important" (12)
               "First" (11)                "Elected" (11)

Most           "Canada" (156)              "Canada"(99)
frequent       "Country" (40)              "Government" (39)
substantives   "People"! 38)               "Party" (33)
               "Government" (37)           "Representative" (31)
               "Province"(30)              "Canadian" (29)
               "Canadian" (28)             "Law" (29)
               "Ontario" (26)              "People" (25)
               "Language" (25)             "Country" (21)
               "Quebec" (22)               "Election" (21)
               "Area" (22)                 "Citizen" (18)
                                           "Parliament" (18)

Most           "People" (38)               "People" (25)
frequent       "Season"(23)                "Vote" (23)
actants        "Area"(22)                  "Province" (22)
               "Million" (20)              "Senate(14)
               "Year"(20)                  "Bills" (13)
               "Migrant" (17)              "City (13)
               "United Kingdom (17)        "Head of Government" (13)
               "Education" (14)            "Judge"(9)
               "Capital" (13)
               "Development" (13)
               "Federal Government" (03)
               "Ocean" (13)

Most           "Canada"(312)               "Canada" (120)
frequent       "Country" (44)              "Government"
actors         "Government" (38)           (48)
               "Province" (30)             "Party" (47)
               "Canadian" (28)             "Representative" (31)
               "Speech"(26)                "Canadian" (29)
               "Part" (25)                 "Law" (29)
               "Citizen" (19)              "Citizen" (27)
               "Population" (19)           "Country" * (23)
                                           "Election" (22)
                                           "Parliament" (19)

               1995                        2009

Most           "Be"(268)                   "Be"(251)
frequent       "Do" (67)                   "Have" (61)
verbs          "Have" (59)                 "Include" (37)
               "Can"(33)                   "Can"(36)
               "Live" (32)                 "Become" (30)
               "Make" (27)                 "Make" (27)
               "Call" (26)                 "Vote" (21)
               "Become" (26)               "Live" (19)
               "Will" (23)                 "Call" (19)
               "Vote" (22)                 "Take"(17)
                                           "Do" (17)

Most           "First" (42)                "First" (46)
frequent       "Important" (38)            "Canadian (45)
adjectives     "Canadian" (35)             "Other" (40)
               "All" (24)                  "Large" (28)
               "Other" (22)                "All" (25)
               "Many" (20)                 "Many" (23)
               "Federal" (19)              "Important" (21)
               "Aboriginal" (19)           "Provincial" (21)
               "Provincial" (18)           "Federal" (20)
               "Electoral" (18)            "Known as" (15)

Most           "Canada" (241)              "Canada"(288)
frequent       "Province" (85)             "Canadian" (114)
substantives   "People" (85)               "Province"(65)
               "Canadian" (64)             "Government" (52)
               "Right"(56)                 "People"(43)
               "Government" (54)           "Quebec" (40)
               "Region" (48)               "Election" (36)
               "Election" (44)             "Country" (35)
               "Industry" (38)             "Right" (32)
               "Name" (37)                 "Member" (31)

Most           "People" (85)               "Canada"(526)
frequent       "Province" (85)             "Canadian (114)
actants        "Canadian" (64)             "Province"(65)
               "Party" (43)                "France"(47)
               "Freedom" (19)              "Day" (45)
               "Economy" (19)              "People" (44)
               "Queen" (16)                "Parliament" (30)
               "Nations" (15)              "History" (28)
               "Group/Groups" (14)         "Group" (20)
               "Prime Minister" (14)       "Responsibility" (20)

Most           "Canada" (383)              "Government" (54)
frequent       "Province" (85)             "United Kingdom" (47)
actors         "Citizenship" (58)          "Citizen" (42)
               "Right"(56)                 "Citizenship" (40)
               "Government" (56)           "Country" (38)
               "Region" (48)               "Election" (37)
               "Election" (45)             "Vote" (34)
               "Name" (37)
               "Citizen" (36)
               "Vote"(32)

TABLE 4. Matrix with most salient metaboles analyzed in
1947 edition

1947

Text from Guide           Metabole       Interpretation

An extensive              Metaphor via   The term hardy casts
programme of              generalizing   a positive light to
colonization in the       synecdoche     the immigrants and
last decade (...)                        summarizes the
led to an influx of                      qualities desired in
thousands of hardy                       the immigrants.
settlers from
European countries
and the United
States, (p. 36)

May I express my          Litotes,       The metaphor of
continued interest        metaphor       Canadian family
in your progress                         refers to its
towards full and                         society. The litotes
complete membership                      defines the reader
in the Canadian                          as somebody who is
family. (Foreword,                       not fully or
p. 1)                                    completely part of
                                         the Canadian
                                         society.

The Applicant's           Paradox        The definition of
Character: At the                        good character is
final hearing an                         not clearly
inquiry is made into                     established and it
the applicant's                          leaves the
character and                            interpretation to
criminal record.                         the judge. This
(...) The definition                     creates a rhetorical
of "good character"                      paradox by
raises a point                           explaining that
involving wide                           there is no
differences of                           expectation of
opinion as some                          uniformity of
judges are stricter                      interpretation; as a
than others. (pp.                        matter of fact the
13-14)                                   opposite is
                                         affirmed: Some
                                         judges may be
                                         stricter than
                                         others.

Canada is a new           Allegory,      The term New World
country. (...)            metaphor       is used as a
Canada is the result                     metaphor for empty
of immigration from                      or vacant land. By
other lands. Even                        classifying the land
the native Indian                        that Canada occupies
tribes descend from                      as truly new, and
peoples who migrated                     treating native
from Asia dim ages                       peoples as also
ago. Canada is truly                     immigrants, the text
part of the New                          could be described
World, (p. 33)                           as creating the
                                         allegory of a
                                         completely
                                         undiscovered land
                                         that was up for
                                         taking by everyone.

TABLE 5. Matrix with most salient metaboles
analyzed in 1963 edition

1963

Text from Guide             Metabole          Interpretation

At the end of the           Allegory          The allegory
war one of Canada's                           presents the common
great periods of                              interests and
immigration began.                            intentions that all
(...) They are                                immigrants to Canada
united with all                               should share, and it
Canadians in their                            functions both as a
love of freedom,                              way to highlight the
their desire to live                          good characteristics
under a democratic                            or desires of
form of government                            immigrants as well
and their hopes of a                          as inform the reader
great future for                              that the interests
Canada, (p. 14)                               of the majority of
                                              immigrants should be
                                              the reader's
                                              interests as well.

Over the years              Paradox           The paradox, while
immigrants have come                          acknowledging the
from many different                           variety of cultural
backgrounds (...).                            backgrounds, places
From the point of                             these cultures and
view of language and                          languages at a lower
cultural life,                                importance than the
however, there                                two state-supported
continue to be two                            cultures: English
main groups--                                 and French.
French-speaking and
English-speaking.
(p. 20)

There is general            Generalizing      The phrase There is
agreement that one          synecdoche,       general agreement
duty of every person        euphemism         work as a
in Canada is to obey                          generalizing
the laws. (p. 84)                             synecdoche combining
                                              the opinion of the
                                              writers of the guide
                                              with the opinions of
                                              the public. This
                                              generalizing
                                              synecdoche gives
                                              support to the
                                              euphemism that
                                              suggests that new
                                              citizens must
                                              therefore obey the
                                              laws.

Good citizenship in         Hyperbole         The reader is
a democracy is,                               introduced to the
indeed, a matter of                           many
conscience. It is                             responsibilities of
based on a sense of                           citizenship through
responsibility.                               an hyperbole that
(...) in a democracy                          includes almost
we say, "We, the                              every aspect of
people, are the                               managing the affairs
state." We, the                               of the country.
people, are
responsible for our
own country, our
government and way
of life. The
responsibilities of
citizenship are
therefore many. (pp.
84-85)

TABLE 6. Matrix with most salient metaboles analyzed in 1976 edition

                                 1976

Text from Guide             Metabole          Interpretation

Over 20,000 years ago the   Metonymy          The word forefather is
forefathers of Canada's                       used as a metonymy: The
Inuit and Indians arrived                     relationship between
on this continent from                        forefathers and Inuit and
Asia. (p. 14)                                 Indians is mediated by
                                              Canada, which is giving
                                              both groups an identity.

You have already been in    Euphemism         The sentence assumes that
Canada long enough to                         during the time of
know quite a lot about                        residence prior to
it. (p. 3)                                    applying for citizenship
                                              the reader has been
                                              actively engaged in
                                              seeking information about
                                              Canada, and if that was
                                              not the case, the text
                                              may be indicating that
                                              the reader should have
                                              been engaged. This
                                              duality is what merits
                                              the classification of
                                              euphemism.

What is being done to       Litotes           Both questions utilize
encourage bilingualism in                     litotes in which by
Canada? (p. 20) What                          saying less, the implied
about other cultural                          message is actually
groups in Canada? (p. 21)                     saying more. The first
                                              question assumes that the
                                              reader agrees that
                                              bilingualism (English and
                                              French) should be
                                              encouraged. In the second
                                              question, the argument is
                                              reduced to the term other
                                              cultural groups that
                                              while inclusive and
                                              placed in proximity to
                                              bilingualism, is still at
                                              a different semantic
                                              level than English and
                                              French.

TABLE 7. Matrix with most salient metaboles analyzed in 1978 edition

1978

Text from Guide             Metabole          Interpretation

Canadian citizens possess   Metonymy          All these sentences use
certain privileges (p. 4)                     metonymies in which the
Canadians have special                        terms Canadian citizens
political privileges (p.                      or Canadians are extended
5) The most important                         by contiguity to the
privileges of Canadian                        reader. The privileges
citizens are to vote and                      that Citizens enjoy are
to run for office in all                      also the reader's, and
political elections. (p.                      therefore certain actions
5)                                            are expected of them.

Those who vote choose the   Hyperbole         This sentence is
people who oversee the                        construed as a hyperbole,
daily work of government                      in which the initial act
and make our laws-laws                        of voting is equated to
that affect the lives and                     choosing supervisors for
rights of everyone in                         the entire work of
Canada, (p. 2)                                government.

By respecting and           Euphemism         This sentence uses
appreciating each other                       euphemism to describe the
and by sharing                                behaviours of all
responsibility for their                      Canadians, and therefore
country, Canadians choose                     these behaviours are
to grow together, (p. 14)                     expected to be also
                                              acquired by the future
                                              citizen.

TABLE 8. Matrix with most salient metaboles analyzed in 1995 edition

1995

Text from Guide             Metabole          Interpretation

Thousands of miners first   Metaphor          Some of the metaphors
came to the Yukon during                      that are present in the
the "Gold Rush" at the                        text are bracketed by
end of the 1800s. (p. 23)                     quotation marks, possibly
The North is sometimes                        as a warning sign to the
called the "Land of the                       reader that the words
Midnight Sun." (p. 23)                        don't quite mean what
                                              they say in the context
                                              in which they are
                                              applied.

Canadian citizenship        Euphemism via     This sentence works as a
means being a part of       litotes           euphemism via litotes:
Canada, (p. 1)                                Citizenship is equated to
                                              full membership to Canada
                                              the country, which in
                                              turn means that the
                                              individual now being part
                                              of Canada must perform
                                              certain actions in order
                                              to be a Canadian Citizen.

The office will tell you    Euphemism via     This sentence uses a
if you have been            litotes           euphemism via litotes to
successful, (p. 3)                            deal with the issue of
                                              the outcomes of the
                                              citizenship test, but it
                                              does so in a manner that
                                              only one result (passing
                                              the exam) is shown, while
                                              failure is implicit.

More than three-quarters    Particularizing   The term bilingual
of Canadians who live in    synecdoche,       Canadian could be
Quebec speak French as      euphemism via     classified in this
their first language.       litotes           context as a
Over one-third of the                         particularizing
population in Quebec                          synecdoche as well as a
speak both French and                         euphemism via litotes:
English, making it the                        The totality of bilingual
province with the highest                     individuals in Canada is
number of bilingual                           reduced to those that can
Canadians, (p. 15)                            operate in English and
                                              French. Other bilingual
                                              Canadians are therefore
                                              in a different category
                                              of bilingualism; one that
                                              can be argued is of a
                                              lesser value since to be
                                              bilingual Canadian only
                                              English and French
                                              matters.

TABLE 9. Matrix with most salient metaboles analyzed in 2009 edition

2009

Text from Guide             Metabole          Interpretation

Together, these diverse     Oxymoron          This sentence could be
groups, sharing a common                      considered an oxymoron:
Canadian identity, make                       Diverse groups, sharing a
up today's multicultural                      common Canadian identity
society. (p. 13)                              contains an inherent
                                              tension between the term
                                              diverse and what could be
                                              described as one of its
                                              antonyms, common. The
                                              text creates a semantic
                                              oxymoron that could be
                                              explained as an attempt
                                              to reconcile the fact
                                              that Canada has citizens
                                              from many cultural
                                              backgrounds that, despite
                                              their differences, still
                                              find common values.

In Canada, we profess our   Antithesis        This paragraph contains
loyalty to a person who                       an antithesis to compare
represents all Canadians                      a set of characteristics:
and not to a document                         By mentioning the
such as a constitution, a                     remarkably simple yet
banner such as a flag, or                     powerful principle of
a geopolitical entity                         expressing loyalty
such as a country. In our                     through the Sovereign,
constitutional monarchy,                      the guide compares
these elements are                            various forms of loyalty
encompassed by the                            expressions and concludes
Sovereign (Queen or                           that the Canadian model
King). It is a remarkably                     is superior.
simple yet powerful
principle: Canada is
personified by the
Sovereign just as the
Sovereign is personified
by Canada, (p. 2)

Canadian citizens have      Allegory by       This is an allegory by
rights and                  metaphor          metaphor in which new
responsibilities. These                       citizens are invited to
come to us from our                           adopt a highly desirable
history, are secured by                       set of values that the
Canadian law, and reflect                     text presents as the
our shared traditions,                        expectations of Canadian
identity and values, (p.                      society.
8)

However, serving in the     Euphemism         The use of noble way to
regular Canadian Forces     via litotes       contribute to Canada
(navy, army and air                           could be construed as a
force) is a noble way to                      euphemism via litotes in
contribute to Canada and                      which contribute to
an excellent career                           Canada replaces Canadian
choice (...). (P. 9)                          citizen. Serving in the
                                              Armed Forces therefore
                                              elevates the contribution
                                              of the new Canadian
                                              citizen.

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NOTES

(1.) The 1947 edition of the Canadian citizenship guide entitled How to become a Canadian Citizen was published by the Canadian Citizenship Branch, Department of the Secretary of State, Ottawa, Canada. A copy of this guide is listed in the Amicus database through the Library and Archives Canada website (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca) under the number 7733727.

(2.) The 1963 edition of the Canadian citizenship guide entitled Guide to Canadian Citizenship was published by the Canadian Citizenship Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Ottawa, Canada. A copy of this guide is listed in the Amicus database through the Library and Archives Canada website (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca) under the number 7981539.

(3.) The 1976 edition of the Canadian citizenship guide entitled Canada. Guide for Citizenship was published by Secretary of State, Ottawa, Canada. A copy of this guide is listed in the Amicus database through the Library and Archives Canada website (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca) under the number 1830623. This guide was first published in 1974 and revised in 1975 (editions not available for this study) with the 1975 guide reprinted in 1976, the latter being the one used for this study.

(4.) The 1978 edition of the Canadian citizenship guide entitled The Canadian Citizen was published by Secretary of State, Ottawa, Canada. A copy of this guide is listed in the Amicus database through the Library and Archives Canada website (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca) under the number 3011700.

(5.) The 1979 edition of the folder entitled A Look at Canada was published by Secretary of State, Ottawa, Canada. A copy of this folder is listed in the Amicus database through the Library and Archives Canada website (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca) under the number 1830878.

(6.) The 1995 edition of the Canadian citizenship guide entitled A Look at Canada was published by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa, Canada. A copy of this guide is listed in the Amicus database through the Library and Archives Canada website (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca) under the number 25343699.

(7.) The 2009 edition of the Canadian citizenship guide entitled Discover Canada was published by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa, Canada. A copy of this guide is listed in the Amicus database through the Library and Archives Canada website (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca) under the number 37375371.

NORA SOBEL is a communication and education specialist with 16 years of experience in journalism, program and project management, and intercultural competency development. She is currently Manager, Diversity and Intercultural Services at Red River College (Winnipeg), where she supports students and faculty in developing their diversity awareness and intercultural competence. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies (Major in Advertising and Public Opinion) from the University of Buenos Aires in 1998 and her Master of Education (Concentration in Adult and Post-Secondary Education) from the University of Manitoba in 2013. This article is based on her Masters thesis (M. Atleo, Advisor), which was a finalist in the 2013 ATLAS.ti IIQM Masters Level Dissertation Award competition presented by the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology (University of Alberta). Her research interests include citizenship, intercultural competence, and diversity and inclusion.