Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1986
Abstract
This book appears in the government sponsored series A History of Canada's Peoples, aiming at the general public's interest in the ethnic dimension of Canadian society. "Most Canadians belong to an ethnic group, since to do so is simply to 'have a sense of identity rooted in a common origin ... whether this common origin is real or imaginary' ... all have traditions and values that they cherish and that now are part of the cultural riches that Canadians share." Despite the reference to such subjective concepts as "identity," "tradition," and "values," the authors of ethnic extraction were instructed to keep within the confines of immigration and ethnic history. They were to give accounts of the origin, educational and social stratification of the immigrants, their settlement patterns, economy, labor and political relations, mobility and the ethnic institutions they create and sustain. The authors indeed followed these guidelines. It is only a question whether the chronological survey of historic facts will be sufficient to present the Hungarian-Canadian (or any other ethnic group's) experience, as the title promises.
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly 6:2 (Spring 1986). Copyright © 1986 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.