CiTR

This essay explores Canada's dual identity as both a settler-colonial and multicultural nation through its vampire narratives. By examining how these stories obscure, reflect, or embody colonial legacies, the host argues that the absence of a distinctly "Canadian vampire" is itself a symptom of the country's ongoing struggle with critical self-reflection and reconciliation. The vampire figure serves both as a metaphor and a lens for analyzing national identity, as well as the host’s personal search for belonging in Canada.

Primary works analyzed or used include Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes’s “Canadian Vampire”, Kinga Michalska’s Vampires, It’s Nothing to Laugh At, Guy Maddin’s Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary, Drew Hayden Taylor’s The Night Wanderer, and Murray Leeder and Andre Loiselle’s “Canadian Vampires”.

Music Credit: Noferatu Original (1922) Score by Hans Erdmann

Special thanks to Professor Gisele Baxter, Drew Hayden Taylor, Programming Manager Ciara Reid, Power in Voice Program Assistant Francis Rogers Alvarez de la Cadena, and most importantly Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) and facilitators for making this possible.