Identity Discourse in Three Franco-American Life Histories from the U.S. Federal Writers' Project

Shannon, William F.

Critical reading of three Franco American oral history interviews from the Federal Writers' Project of the late 1930s. An exploration of how the participants in each interview constructed identities of self and community through the stories they chose to tell and the manners in which the stories were communicated. Begins with explanation of this author's specific concerns with methods of "critical discourse analysis," and is contextualized historically with an introduction to the history of New England's Franco American communities in general. Concludes with questions of the shape and substance of a 21st-century Franco American identity, illustrated in the author's own self-examination . From the author: "This project explores the social construction of ethnic identity among Franco-Americans, the descendants of French-Canadian immigrants to the northeastern United States....The project concludes with reflections on how the life narratives might inform a postmodern Franco-American ethnic identity."

Athbasca, Alberta, Canada

2010-12

en

Thesis/Dissertation

1930-2010; New England