- Title:
- Icelandic migration to Canada, 1872-1875: new perspectives on the myth of beginnings
- Creator:
- Eyford, Ryan C.
- Date Created:
- 2003
- Degree Awarded:
- Master of Arts
- Subjects:
- migration ethnicity
- Geographical Focus:
- Canada Iceland
- Supporting Materials:
- n/a
- Description:
- Between 1870 and 1914, approximately 20,000 Icelanders migrated to North America. In sharp contrast to other Scandinavian national groups, the vast majority went to Canada rather than the United States. This study examines the development of this Canada-centred migration pattern during the years 1872-1875. Its first purpose is to integrate Icelandic migration into broader global and local contexts using neglected sources from the National Archives of Canada and the Archives of Ontario. Its second purpose is to deconstruct several of the most common mythic stories about leaving home, travelling, sojourning, and settling that have appeared in Icelandic ethnic histories, and to explain how these stories were constructed and used by people of Icelandic descent in Canada to forge ethnic and national identities. It is argued that there was an important difference between the historical imaginings of the immigrant and Canadian-born generations that is not usually acknowledged in scholarly examinations of Icelandic- Canadian historical myth.
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- Eyford, Ryan C.. 2003. "Icelandic migration to Canada, 1872-1875: new perspectives on the myth of beginnings", Department of History, Carleton University
- Link to this page:
- https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_169.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.