The aim of this thesis is to shed light upon the construction of identity within the Swedish- Canadian immigrant group during the first half of the 20th century. The most important sources of ethnic and nationalistic influences this study scrutinizes are the homeland Sweden, Swedish-America, Scandinavian-Canada and the Canadian host society. It also examines the interaction with other social identities, such as gender and religion. Theoretically, this dissertation takes its point of departure in Fredrik Barth’s assumptions on cultural boundaries and ethnic grouping, which emphasizes the meeting and confrontation with other groups as a trigger in the development of a new ethnic identity. The study is carried out on three partly interacting levels: the individual, the organizational and the official/ rhetorical level. On the individual level, the first generation Swedes in Canada was probably as Swedish as they could be concerning identity, culture and social networks. But as it turned out, the shattered Swedish immigration, the vast and often hardly passable Canadian landscape, together with indirect help from the Canadian government, would prevent an extensive establishment of ethnic organizations. The surplus of single Swedish-Canadian men also affected the transference of Swedishness negatively in the change of generations. The intense dialogue with Swedish America, mostly conducted through the Augustana Synod and the Vasa Order, contributed to a new sense of Swedishness. Both these Swedish- American organizations had “Diaspora ambitions” and they relatively soon established a certain cooperation with the pan-Swedish movement in Sweden. Women played an important social, economical as well practical role in both secular and religious organizational life. Many Swedish-Canadians congregations and organizations would have had no future, if not for the women’s commitment. Swedish rhetoric on the official level was carried out by men, to men, in a male language and imaginary. In this context the term Swede thus became synonymous with Swedish man. Both outspoken desires from the Swedish homeland and its actual internal development were considered and reformulated in Swedish-Canadian rhetoric. When the nationalistic discourse changed in Sweden, the Swedish-Canadian rhetoric changed in the same direction. Swedes in Canada also responded to ethnic competition, especially from Norwegians, by trying to define how the two related groups differed. Of certain importance was the signals given from the host society. With a general suspicion of foreign elements together with a demand for assimilation, the Canadian government seems to have hastened the integration process of Swedish-Canadians.

Network and cultural bridge theories predict the source and durability of cultural boundaries, including how cultural boundaries are overcome in order for differing groups to have meaningful exchanges. Ethnographic interview data with three research subjects in Northern Mexico reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each theory. Minita Bustillos, Juan Daniel Villalobos, and Horacio Echeverrí­a contribute to bridging ties between the closed indigenous community of the Tarahumara and outside Mexican and American groups. Their positions elucidate the veracity of theoretical propositions found in network and cultural bridge theories. Findings suggest that though useful in understanding several aspects of network structure and bridging, network theory does not fully explain how a person becomes part of a network bridge or what social capabilities may be useful for someone in that position. Cultural bridge theories extend the explanation by showing the importance of relationship building in bridging, but rely too heavily on the notion that a single individual can provide the cultural capital and resources necessary to be a cross-cultural bridge in and of themselves. The additional concepts of habitus and cultural tool-kits supplement these perspectives by explaining how respondents acquired cultural and social knowledge that allows them to make connections in multiple distinct networks and how the respondents can so naturally say and do things to garner trust from members of both groups. This research shows how the theoretical concepts can be used in application to a specific social context. It also provides support for the possible use of the concepts of habitus, network bridging, and tool-kits for training members of grass roots organizations attempting to bridge between distinct, and even opposing, social groups.

El propósito de la tesina presente es analizar la manera de expresar las dificultades de una identidad híbrida en dos poemas contemporáneos de dos escritoras de origen latinoamericano, Gloria Anzaldúa y Julia Alvarez. Se han analizado los dos poemas elegidos teniendo en cuenta la perspectiva de una identidad híbrida y los problemas que ello conlleva en una sociedad llena de normas y fronteras entre grupos étnicos, culturales y sexuales. Después del análisis de los poemas sigue una comparación entre los resultados de la investigación y finalmente presentamos nuestras conclusiones. El estudio muestra que a pesar de que los poemas parezcan muy diferentes se han encontrado puntos de relación, como por ejemplo la similitud de los mensajes principales de los poemas; que necesitamos aceptar las mezclas de culturas, etnias y sexos. / The purpose of this study is to analyse the expression of the difficulties with a hybrid identity in two contemporary poems written by two authors from Latin America, Gloria Anzaldúa and Julia Alvarez. The analysis of the two poems take into account the perspective of a hybrid identity and the problems that this entails in a society filled with rules, standards and boundaries between different ethnic, cultural and sexual groups.  The analysis of the two poems is followed by a comparison of the results of the investigation and ultimately is presented the conclusions. The study shows that the poems share several respects, despite that they at first seems very different. An example is the similarities of the main messages that the poems convey, that we need to accept the mix of cultures, ethnics and sexualities.