Immigrants in Prairie Cities
Ethnic Diversity in Twentieth-Century Canada
Published on 30. November 2009
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-8020-9908-2 (ISBN)
Description
Over the course of the twentieth century, sequential waves of immigrants from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa settled in the cities of the Canadian Prairies. In Immigrants in Prairie Cities, Royden Loewen and Gerald Friesen analyze the processes of cultural interaction and adaptation that unfolded in these urban centres and describe how this model of diversity has changed over time. The authors argue that intimate Prairie cities fostered a form of social diversity characterized by vibrant ethnic networks, continuously evolving ethnic identities, and boundary zones that facilitated intercultural contact and hybridity.
Impressive in scope, Immigrants in Prairie Cities spans the entire twentieth century, and encompasses personal testimonies, government perspectives, and even fictional narratives. This engaging work will appeal to both historians of the Canadian Prairies and those with a general interest in migration, cross-cultural exchange, and urban history.
Impressive in scope, Immigrants in Prairie Cities spans the entire twentieth century, and encompasses personal testimonies, government perspectives, and even fictional narratives. This engaging work will appeal to both historians of the Canadian Prairies and those with a general interest in migration, cross-cultural exchange, and urban history.
Reviews / Votes
'Loewen and Friesen have made an original contribution to understanding the immigrant experience and laid the ground work for further studies. Scholars of immigration and ethnicity elsewhere will find this book valuable for comparative purposes and it will contribute to better understandings of multiculturalism.' - Patricia E. Roy, American Historical Review: February 2011 'An excellent reflection on a regional expression of Canadian multiculturalism... academic prose at its best. ' - David G. Burley; H-TGS (Transnational German Studies), 28 November, 2011 'Immigrants in Prairie Cities provides a state-of-the-art approach to the writing of both immigration and social history... A truly fine piece of work that will become required reading for all serious students, not just of Western Canadian, but of Canadian social history.'- Jim Mochoruk (Histoire Sociale/ Social History, vol 44:87:2011) 'Loewen and Friesen are to be congratulated for offering a new image of the Prairies... This is a provocative book that should elicit the kind of "compelling...dialogue" that they argue has shaped the multicultural prairie city.'
- Marlene Epp (International Journal of Migration and Integration; vol 13:03:2012)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
12 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8020-9908-2 (9780802099082)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Royden Loewen is the Chair in Mennonite Studies and a professor in the Department of History at the University of Winnipeg. He is an award-winning author of a number of books on Mennonites and immigrants in North America.
Gerald Friesen is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Manitoba.
Gerald Friesen is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Manitoba.