Editorial

Editorial With this issue the University of Toronto Quarterlyenters its fiftieth year of continuous publication. The occasion seemed worth commemorating in a tangible way, and the condition of the arts in Canada during the halfcentury of the journal's existence offered itself as an appropriate and attractive subject for a critical symposium. We therefore decided to approach distinguished Canadian practitioners of a representative selection of the various arts and invite them to compare the cultural situation in 1930 with the immediate prospects in 1980, to discuss the changes, problems, challenges, and achievements of the last fifty years. We decided to leave the format as open as possible so that each contributorcould discuss whatever he or she considered most suitable for the subject in question. Since the participants had personal experience of at least a large section of the period surveyed, we made it clear that memoir and anecdote would be welcome, as well as general observation. We wanted the essays to be thoughtful without becoming dryly academic; we saw the need for a series of personal responses on the state of the arts in twentieth-century Canada that carried cumulative authority without taking on the oppressiveness of an official report. The results are to be found in the following pages. What has impressed us as eclitors is the way in which - despite the fidelity of all contributors to ,shared task - the impress of the individual artist is clearly visible in each essay. This is no uniform, coldly objective catalogue of work produced. ;ome essays may seem either partial or controversial, but each preserves 1 forthright, sincere, committed view of its subject. Together, they make JP a complex, many-faceted, lively, and living discussion of the cultural ievelopment of Canada. The University ofToronto Quarterlyfirst saw the light of day at a period of iepression and uncertainty; it celebrates its fiftieth birthday in a year of ,ational crisis and self-scrutiny. In its annual 'Letters in Canada' each ;ummer the journal has a long history of responsible critical coverage of lUr achievements in both English and French. In this commemorative ssue each of the verbal arts is represented by an article in each of the ,fficial Canadian languages. They appear, appropriately, side by side, md we hope that the sense of combination and co-operation that has iv EDITORIAL made possible this examination of the past offers a happy augury for the future. Since editorials are not usual in the Quarterly (see the brief history of the journal that concludes this issue), we cannot forgo the opportunity here offered of rendering thanks for assistance and support. Several contributions to this issue lay stress on the role played by the Canada Council in developing artistic activity in the last twenty years and more. Like most academic journals, the Quarterly could not have survived without the financial support of the Canada Council and more recently of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and we acknowledge their annual grants with gratitude. Within the University of Toronto itself we are conscious of vital encouragement from the University of Toronto Press, from University College, and from the Departments of English and French, all of whom have been generous of advice and services to the editors in ways too numerous to specify here. Then there are the members of the Honorary Advisory Board and many others who assist in reading submissions and offering help on the frequent occasions when we need it. Above all, there are our contributors and our readers, without whom any efforts on our part would be superfluous. As we enter our fiftieth year of publication, closing one long chapter and opening another, we thank you all. And now, aware of our indebtedness to many known and unknown friends, we look back with candour - and step forward with resolution. wJKand B-ZS ...