"It's strange, we're not Italian but we're not Canadian either" : the performance of ethnic identity among young Montreal Italians

Sanchini, Laura Marie Andrea (2009) "It's strange, we're not Italian but we're not Canadian either" : the performance of ethnic identity among young Montreal Italians. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the ethnic and cultural identity markers of some Montreal Italians under the age of 35. The ethnography upon which this study rests was collected through personal, e-mail and phone interviews during the summer of 2008. This study focuses on how members of the Italian community in Montreal choose to shape and inform their ethnic identity through fluid and dynamic identity markers. First, the thesis introduces the reader to the Montreal Italian community and the main informants who were interviewed for this study. As well, the concepts of identity and ethnicity are examined within a folkloric framework. Next, the thesis delineates three case studies. Chapter Three examines the issue of fragmented identity and the change in intergenerational identity markers, using Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church as an example of a constantly evolving and complex marker of Italian identity. Visits to Italy by members of the younger generation of Montreal Italians are the focus of the fourth chapter as a way in which my informants reinforce their Italian identity. Finally, in Chapter Five, traditional food preparation such as tomato-canning is explored as a performance of identity and a way to shape and negotiate ethnic association.

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