Login | Register

Re-centering the Periphery: The Protestant Irish of Montreal and the Birth of Canadian National Identity

Title:

Re-centering the Periphery: The Protestant Irish of Montreal and the Birth of Canadian National Identity

Jess, Raymond (2013) Re-centering the Periphery: The Protestant Irish of Montreal and the Birth of Canadian National Identity. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

[thumbnail of Jess_MA_S2014.pdf]
Preview
Text (application/pdf)
Jess_MA_S2014.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
5MB

Abstract

This thesis considers the construction of Canadian national identity and the political and economic forces that shaped it through the focused lens of the Irish Protestant community, a changing immigrant milieu in post-Confederation Montreal. The Protestant Irish community was divided by class, and their different reactions to certain social events and identities meant that the boundaries of their community were constantly being pushed and pulled in different directions, as actors tried to impose their own narratives on the changing meta-narrative of the city. Montreal was a contact zone and immigrant centre where cross-cultural exchange occurred on a daily basis and where ethnic and religious communities were both formed and transformed. This research draws on print media to explore the complex process of identity creation in the popular press and in the popular literature of the day. By examining this quest for new national narratives between the time of Confederation and the First World War, this thesis examines the modalities through which old identities were superseded and transformed for the sake of cultural accommodation and economic expediency.

Divisions:Concordia University > School of Graduate Studies
Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Authors:Jess, Raymond
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M.A.
Program:Special Individualized Program
Date:August 2013
Thesis Supervisor(s):Ó hAllmhuráin, Gearóid and Kenneally, Michael and Foster, Gavin
ID Code:977971
Deposited By: RAYMOND JESS
Deposited On:03 Jul 2014 15:50
Last Modified:18 Jan 2018 17:45
All items in Spectrum are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved. The use of items is governed by Spectrum's terms of access.

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads per month over past year

Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
- Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
Back to top Back to top