The francophone minority in Newfoundland is the smallest, least known group of French Canadians and the only one apart from the Acadians to be of non-Quebec origin. After a period of thoroughgoing assimilation, the French Newfoundlanders are now fighting for their ethno-linguistic survival. The present study synthesises the qualitative and quantitative findings of large-scale on-the-spot fieldwork with a systemic approach to the concept of ethnic identity in North America to propose a prognosis on the future development of collective identity among the French Newfoundlanders.
Face à l’érosion de sa vitalité démolinguistique et au bouleversement de nombre de données identitaires dans un contexte de mondialisation, l’Acadie peut-elle une nouvelle fois trouver les moyens de s’adapter aux changements contemporains ? Peut-elle, en particulier, se garantir la possibilité de choix identitaires libres et responsables ?Inscrit dans la continuité d’une action de coopération scientifique internationale sur la question d’existence en milieu minoritaire, ce livre contribue à relever le défi de l’adaptation face aux mutations structurelles et identitaires en Acadie. Les articles proposés appliquent l’expertise acquise par des équipes expérimentées à des situations problématiques concrètes issues des domaines socio-historique, socio-éducationnel, socio-professionnel et géopolitique. Gageons que le lecteur sera surpris d’observer les convergences entre ces différentes perspectives. Cet ouvrage souligne en ce sens la pertinence des études acadiennes sur un plan interdisciplinaire.
Acadians remain one of the few North American historical minorities which has been able to survive as a distinct ethno-cultural and linguistic group. This fact is all the more striking since this people suffered a deportation and dispersion, and it does not possess its own territory, nor does it have a government of its own. Acadians therefore have continually had to face the issue of autonomy in all its varied forms.The central issue addressed by this book is an inquiry into the nature of the process which has maintained the unique Acadian minority in existence right up to the present day. This study differs from other multidisciplinary analyses of this community principally because it studies the historical continuity of the dynamic of autonomy that has evolved since the beginning of Acadia. The research for this complete chronological framework encompasses a number of intersecting disciplinary approaches at the historical, political, socio-cultural and existential levels. These differing perspectives are harmonized by their common objective of defining the process of autonomization, and the counter-process of heteronomization, which lie at the heart of each of the periods studied. These approaches allow critical openings between the framework of social history, power relationships and the fundamental aspirations of the minority.
