Being German Canadian: History, Memory, Generations (Studies in Immigration and Culture, 17)

"Being German Canadian explores how multi-generational families and groups have interacted and shaped each other's integration and adaptation in Canadian society, focusing on the experiences, histories, and memories of German immigrants and their descendants. As one of Canada's largest ethnic groups, German Canadians allow for a variety of longitudinal and multi-generational studies that explore how different generations have negotiated and transmitted diverse individual experiences, collective memories, and national narratives. Drawing on recent research in memory and migration studies, this volume studies how twentieth-century violence shaped the integration of immigrants and their descendants. More broadly, the collection seeks to document the state of the field in German-Canadian history. Being German Canadian brings together senior and junior scholars from History and related disciplines to investigate the relationship between, and significance of, the concepts of generation and memory for the study of immigration and ethnic history. It aims to move immigration historiography towards exploring the often fraught relationship among different immigrant generations--whether generation is defined according to age cohort or era of arrival."-- Provided by publisher "Being German Canadian explores how multi-generational families and groups have interacted and shaped each other's integration and adaptation in Canadian society, focusing on the experiences, histories, and memories of German immigrants and their descendants. As one of Canada's largest ethnic groups, German Canadians allow for a variety of longitudinal and multi-generational studies that explore how different generations have negotiated and transmitted diverse individual experiences, collective memories, and national narratives. Drawing on recent research in memory and migration studies, this volume studies how twentieth-century violence shaped the integration of immigrants and their descendants. More broadly, the collection seeks to document the state of the field in German-Canadian history. Being German Canadian brings together senior and junior scholars from History and related disciplines to investigate the relationship between, and significance of, the concepts of generation and memory for the study of immigration and ethnic history. It aims to move immigration historiography towards exploring the often fraught relationship among different immigrant generations--whether generation is defined according to age cohort or era of arrival."--Page 4 of cover

Being German Canadian explores how multi-generational families and groups have interacted and shaped each other's integration and adaptation in Canadian society, focusing on the experiences, histories, and memories of German immigrants and their descendants.As one of Canada's largest ethnic groups, German Canadians allow for a variety of longitudinal and multi-generational studies that explore how different generations have negotiated and transmitted diverse individual experiences, collective memories, and national narratives. Drawing on recent research in memory and migration studies, this volume studies how twentieth-century violence shaped the integration of immigrants and their descendants. More broadly, the collection seeks to document the state of the field in German-Canadian history. Being German Canadian brings together senior and junior scholars from History and related disciplines to investigate the relationship between, and significance of, the concepts of generation and memory for the study of immigration and ethnic history. It aims to move immigration historiography towards exploring the often fraught relationship among different immigrant generations—whether generation is defined according to age cohort or era of arrival.

Cover Contents Acknowledgements Introduction. Heavy Baggage: Memory and Generation in Ethnic History Chapter 1. A Flying Piano and Then—Silence: German-Canadian Memories of the Great War Chapter 2. One Führer, Two Kings: A Canadian Prime Minister in Nazi Germany and the Dilemma of Responsibility Chapter 3. A Transnational Yekkish Identity? Comparing German Jews in Canada and Israel Chapter 4. The Roots of Ehnic Fundamentalism in German-Canadian Studies: The Case of Gottlieb Leibbrantdt Chapter 5. Gatekeeping in the Lutheran Church: Ethnicity, Generation, and Religion in 1960s Toronto Chapter 6. Migration Trajectories and the Construction of Generational Discourses among Contemporary German Immigrants in Ottawa in the 2000s Chapter 7. “We Never Really Talked About It”: Second- and Third-Generation German Canadians’ Family Memories of the Holocaust Chapter 8. Creating Family Legacies: Descendants Memorialize Their German Female Ancestors: Afterword. What Does It Mean to be “German Canadian”? The Challenge of History and the Obligation of Memory Bibliography Contributors Index