Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island
Among the largest, yet most neglected, ethnic groups in Canada are those who have emigrated from the United States. While their differences from other ethnie and immigrant groups are quite evident — no American clubs, festivals, native foods and dances, etc. — their identity as a national, immigrant...
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Association Canadienne d’Ethnologie et de Folklore
1991
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fterudit:oai:erudit.org:1081697ar 2023-05-15T15:46:42+02:00 Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island Taft, Michael 1991 http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1081697ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1081697ar en eng Association Canadienne d’Ethnologie et de Folklore Érudit Ethnologies vol. 13 no. 1 (1991) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1081697ar doi:10.7202/1081697ar Tous droits réservés © Ethnologies, Université Laval, 1991 text 1991 fterudit https://doi.org/10.7202/1081697ar 2022-04-09T23:10:41Z Among the largest, yet most neglected, ethnic groups in Canada are those who have emigrated from the United States. While their differences from other ethnie and immigrant groups are quite evident — no American clubs, festivals, native foods and dances, etc. — their identity as a national, immigrant group with certain shared ethnie traits is undeniable. The problem remains, however: how can this group be characterized according to its shared ethnicity? The answer is not easy. Using material gathered from interviews with ethnie Americans now living on Cape Breton Island, this paper explores the question of Americanness, group identity, the context of the group, and ethnicity itself. Les Américains sont parmi les groupes ethniques les plus importants du Canada, pourtant ils sont un des moins étudiés. S’ils se distinguent nettement des autres groupes ethniques, ils n'ont ni clubs, ni festivals, ni danses, ni nourriture particuliers. Ce qui demeure toutefois indéniable, c’est leur identité. Mais quels sont les traits qui rapprochent ces individus les uns aux autres et en font un groupe ethnique bien distinct? La réponse à cette question n’est pas facile. En exploitant des matériaux rassemblés lors d’entretiens avec des Américains qui habitent aujourd’hui au Cape Breton, cet article traite de leur « américanisme », de leur identité de groupe, du contexte de ce groupe et de leur ethnie même. Text Breton Island Érudit.org (Université Montréal) Canada Breton Island ENVELOPE(141.383,141.383,-66.800,-66.800) Ethnologies 13 1 35 |
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Among the largest, yet most neglected, ethnic groups in Canada are those who have emigrated from the United States. While their differences from other ethnie and immigrant groups are quite evident — no American clubs, festivals, native foods and dances, etc. — their identity as a national, immigrant group with certain shared ethnie traits is undeniable. The problem remains, however: how can this group be characterized according to its shared ethnicity? The answer is not easy. Using material gathered from interviews with ethnie Americans now living on Cape Breton Island, this paper explores the question of Americanness, group identity, the context of the group, and ethnicity itself. Les Américains sont parmi les groupes ethniques les plus importants du Canada, pourtant ils sont un des moins étudiés. S’ils se distinguent nettement des autres groupes ethniques, ils n'ont ni clubs, ni festivals, ni danses, ni nourriture particuliers. Ce qui demeure toutefois indéniable, c’est leur identité. Mais quels sont les traits qui rapprochent ces individus les uns aux autres et en font un groupe ethnique bien distinct? La réponse à cette question n’est pas facile. En exploitant des matériaux rassemblés lors d’entretiens avec des Américains qui habitent aujourd’hui au Cape Breton, cet article traite de leur « américanisme », de leur identité de groupe, du contexte de ce groupe et de leur ethnie même. |
format |
Text |
author |
Taft, Michael |
spellingShingle |
Taft, Michael Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island |
author_facet |
Taft, Michael |
author_sort |
Taft, Michael |
title |
Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island |
title_short |
Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island |
title_full |
Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island |
title_fullStr |
Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tracking the Cheshire Cat: Ethnic Americans and American Ethnicity on Cape Breton Island |
title_sort |
tracking the cheshire cat: ethnic americans and american ethnicity on cape breton island |
publisher |
Association Canadienne d’Ethnologie et de Folklore |
publishDate |
1991 |
url |
http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1081697ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1081697ar |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(141.383,141.383,-66.800,-66.800) |
geographic |
Canada Breton Island |
geographic_facet |
Canada Breton Island |
genre |
Breton Island |
genre_facet |
Breton Island |
op_relation |
Ethnologies vol. 13 no. 1 (1991) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1081697ar doi:10.7202/1081697ar |
op_rights |
Tous droits réservés © Ethnologies, Université Laval, 1991 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7202/1081697ar |
container_title |
Ethnologies |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
35 |
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1766381405544120320 |