ABSTRACT
Culture and cultural diplomacy have been identified as forms of soft power. There is an awareness that both the ‘fist’ and the ‘feather’ play meaningful roles in the process of diplomacy. This chapter explores The Letter as cultural diplomat, developing alongside Canada as she came out of the war years. The Letter continued to disseminate information about Canada abroad, being translated into some 13 languages and building attraction through the positive communication of culture and the projection of universal values. A high point of Canada’s cultural debut on the world stage coincided with some of the highest circulations of The Letter as it pumped out cultural messages that showcased Canadians and the Canadian way of life, culminating in ‘Expo 1967’ as “the year that Canadians lost their minds”. There is discussion about the roots of culture in Canadian foreign policy, how cultural projections can influence policy and how The Letter became a vehicle for telling some of Canada’s national story. The activities of The Letter, as the country’s storyteller, again demonstrates the criticalness of communication to both the function and definition of diplomacy as two parts of a whole.
