Discursive and Non-discursive Symbolism: The Impact of the Charter as a Symbol of Rights Protection

EUGENE CIPPARONE

ABSTRACT

The question of whether or not the focus of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is individualistic or communitarian seems to have the attention of many constitutional experts in this country. Legal theorists from wide-ranging backgrounds and with differing perspectives have attempted to formulate the real meaning of the Charter by focusing on either the document as a whole or its specific provisions. This paper attempts to shed some light on this debate by applying the revolutionary generative ideas of Susanne Langer to the Charter. Her persuasive analysis of the philosophical epochs of Western thought will illuminate the origin of the individual-communitarian tension that runs throughout the Charter. By viewing the Charter as a discursive symbol, Langer's theory will lay the groundwork for an analysis of its grammar, as well as its effects as a medium of discourse on the institutions bound by it. The Charter as a non-discursive mythical symbol will reveal the Charter's impact on the attitudes of the Canadian people, particularly with respect to the new-found prominence of the Supreme Court in the Canadian body politic. Finally, a unique and comprehensive paradigm for Charter analysis is proposed.

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Citation: (1991) 49(1) U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 152.
Copyright © 1991. University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review.
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