“More German than the Germans:” A linguistic examination of representation and identity in two German-Canadian communities

• Author / Creator

  Hilden, Barbara L.

• This thesis is a linguistic examination of the construction of German-Canadian identity in two urban Canadian communities: Edmonton, Alberta and Waterloo, Ontario. Combining the complementary frameworks of van Dijk’s (1995) Discourse Analysis as Ideology Analysis and Carbaugh’s (2007) Cultural Discourse Analysis, this thesis takes a cultural approach to examine how German-Canadian immigrants construct identity, position membership, and enact belonging. Through an examination of 91 interviews recorded with self-described German-Canadians, this thesis identifies specific linguistic tools by which these participants make Germanness and Canadianness relevant in conversation. It examines the means by which community and belonging are expressed, and it considers the categories of membership which participants wittingly and unwittingly construct.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Identity
  • Positioning
  • German-Canadian
  • Cultural Discourse Analysis
  • Membership
  • Community
  • Discourse Analysis as Ideology Analysis

• Graduation date

  Spring 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3911C

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.