Loyal but French : The Negotiation of Identity by French-Canadian Descendants in the United States

Richard, Mark Paul

The birth of the French Canadian community in Lewiston, Maine, and the developments of a Franco American identity there. Argues for the reexamination of the social history of French Canadians and their descendants in Lewiston, Maine - that Franco American culture and cultural identity are products of a historical process where ethnic Americans negotiated citizenship, tradition, and personhood by a variety of cultural terms more complex than those found in a simple understanding of United States assimilation. Follows the life, transition, and death of the Lewiston periodical "Le Messager," often as a marker for the state of the Lewiston Franco community's vitality. A history of French Canadian institutions in Lewiston. Based on Richard's doctoral dissertation, "From Canadien to American: The Acculturation of French-Canadian Descendants in Lewiston, Maine, 1860 to the Present." Richard is a Lewiston, Maine, native and associate director of the Center for the Study of Canada/Institute on Quebec Studies at SUNY Plattsburgh.

2008

en

Book

1860-present; Lewiston, Maine

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