This thesis investigates the dual concepts of place as home and place within the canon for diasporic communities, immigrants, and minorities within Canada. This thesis argues that a new understanding of “home” is necessary as the immigrant, forced within an in-between place of “there” (the birth-country) and “here” (the host-country), does not experience “home” as a singular, rooted location. “Home” for the immigrant is a feeling of belonging that spans multiple places simultaneously. This investigation of politics through poetics is grounded in the belief that national literature reflects national identity. As the immigrant presence within Canada has heretofore been perceived as secondary to the national identity, and diasporic and immigrant literature as other-to the Canadian canon, this thesis purposes to re-imagine that national identity in a way that includes minority literature. I focus on the work of two widely known Caribbean Canadian poets: Cyril Dabydeen and Lorna Goodison.

This ethnographic work is about the aesthetic, habitual, and sentimental registers of some Bosnian Muslims’ (Bosniaks) daily lives in post-war Sarajevo. It addresses the ages-old themes of Bosnians’ multiple belongings and the question of political subjectivity through lived experience with a particular focus on the contemporary urgency to generate Bosniak national and religious subjectivity. It attends to the affective surplus of mundane scenes that convey the disconcerting drama of conversion to Islam, the nervous accumulation of new Islamic sensibilities, the vibrant ethos of Yugoslavism, the politically vulnerable but habitually engrained identity of Bosniannes, shared memories of the recent war, and the sustenance of the material and sentimental textures of domestic and communal life. Attending to the eventful character of the daily life enables the work to detail and test the existing frames of understanding Bosniaks (such as Nationalization and Islamization) and to further explore the potentialities of lived experience that escape existing regimes of representation. / text

This thesis examines representations of nationhood, exile, belonging and nostalgia in three Palestinian memoirs: Ghada Karmi’s In Search of Fatima (2002), Mourid Barghouti’s I Saw Ramallah (1997) and Aziz Shihab’s Does the Land Remember Me? (2007). For diasporic Palestinians (such as these three) who are denied access to Palestine as a geographical entity, Palestine exists most strongly in and through narrative. As such, I examine the extent to which these memoirs are acts of nation-building. I explore the impact that living in exile has on the authors’ construction of personal and national identity, and the extent to which exile inhibits their ability to belong. Finally, I suggest that although these memoirs do not offer explicit solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, they are important as measured, reasonable and imaginative acts of nation-building that dramatize and make accessible the plight of the Palestinian nation. / This thesis also examines literary considerations such as memoir as a genre, use of figurative language, and authorial presence.

This dissertation explores how internationally educated youth in contemporary Egypt negotiate issues of national identity, postcoloniality and belonging while participating in globalizing class practices. Based on fourteen months of ethnographic research in and around for-profit international schools in Cairo, it focuses on how this privileged youth group constructed, experienced and enacted belonging at the intersection between class and nation. I argue that internationally educated Egyptians were caught in a cultural bind between competing constructions of class and national belonging. On the one hand, globally-oriented socialization practices and international education reproduced a historically-specific and colonially-inspired configuration of social distinction that linked elite belonging to a cosmopolitan-inflected distance from local culture. On the other hand, these markers of elite belonging excluded internationally educated youth from a materially embodied conception of Egyptianness that tied national belonging to essentialist constructions of local culture and identity. I suggest that the tension between class and national belonging expressed a single dialectical process that was rooted in colonial binary conceptualizations of culture and difference, which split ‘elite’ and ‘local’ into mutually exclusive cultural and symbolic repertoires. My analysis challenges dominant theoretical approaches that conflate the reproduction of class and nation by exposing the educational, gendered and linguistic gaps between class and national culture in contemporary Egypt. I present a bottom-up approach to understanding national attachment that highlights the embodied and moral labor that goes into the production of local selfhood in a transnational postcolonial setting. This approach also shows the differential gendered dynamics of class and national reproduction. The burden of maintaining cosmopolitan-inflected class boundaries falls squarely on the girls while boys are expected to embody the nationally-inflected skills and dispositions necessary for personal and professional trajectories that transcend class boundaries. In telling this story, I expose the sociohistorical dynamic by which colonial/postcolonial categories are reconfigured through globally-oriented class practices and highlight the unexpected ways that neoliberal globalism can become the incubator for intensely and irreducibly local gender and cultural norms.

<p>Denna undersökning syftar till att undersöka nationella skillnader i moralutveckling och innehåll i moraliskt resonemang. Studien omfattar 445 svenska och 148 amerikanska ungdomar i åldern 14-19 år. De svenska fpp är hämtade från högstadium och gymnasium i Stockholmsområdet, och de amerikanska från två katolska privatskolor i New York. Dessa tog del av ett moralfrågeformulär av Gibbs (Gibbs & Widaman, 1982; Socio-moral Reflection Measure; SRM) som är en reviderad version av Kohlbergs intervjumetod för bedömning av en individs moralutveckling och kvalitativa, moraliska synsätt i frågor rörande moral. Vid analysen förelåg inga nationella skillnader i moralutvecklingsnivå. Resultaten visade ej heller på skillnader mellan svenska och amerikanska ungdomars sätt att resonera kring moraliska frågor, utom i två fall, som kan tänkas visa på ett typiskt svenskt och ett typiskt amerikanskt sätt att tänka och försvara etiska ställningstaganden. Resultatet diskuteras utifrån (nämnda) teorier inom ämnesområdet.</p> / <p>The aim of this study is to investigate whether there are National differences in moral development and content of moral reasoning. The study includes 445 Swedish and 148 North American youths in the age of 14-19 years. The Swedish subjects of the study come from an upper level of compulsory school in the area around Stockholm, and the North American subjects of the study come from two private Catholic schools in New York. The subjects answered Gibbs’ Moral questionnaire (Gibbs & Widaman, 1982; Socio-moral Reflections Measure; SRM), which is a revised version of Kohlberg’s survey method for estimating individual moral development and qualitative moral viewpoints. The analysis showed no Nation-bound differences concerning moral development level between the youths. Neither could any differences between Swedish and North American young peoples’ way of reasoning on moral issues be traced, except in two cases, which possibly show a typical Swedish and a typical North American way of thinking and defending ethical standpoints. The result is discussed in relation to mentioned theories of the subject area.</p>

Denna undersökning syftar till att undersöka nationella skillnader i moralutveckling och innehåll i moraliskt resonemang. Studien omfattar 445 svenska och 148 amerikanska ungdomar i åldern 14-19 år. De svenska fpp är hämtade från högstadium och gymnasium i Stockholmsområdet, och de amerikanska från två katolska privatskolor i New York. Dessa tog del av ett moralfrågeformulär av Gibbs (Gibbs &amp; Widaman, 1982; Socio-moral Reflection Measure; SRM) som är en reviderad version av Kohlbergs intervjumetod för bedömning av en individs moralutveckling och kvalitativa, moraliska synsätt i frågor rörande moral. Vid analysen förelåg inga nationella skillnader i moralutvecklingsnivå. Resultaten visade ej heller på skillnader mellan svenska och amerikanska ungdomars sätt att resonera kring moraliska frågor, utom i två fall, som kan tänkas visa på ett typiskt svenskt och ett typiskt amerikanskt sätt att tänka och försvara etiska ställningstaganden. Resultatet diskuteras utifrån (nämnda) teorier inom ämnesområdet. / The aim of this study is to investigate whether there are National differences in moral development and content of moral reasoning. The study includes 445 Swedish and 148 North American youths in the age of 14-19 years. The Swedish subjects of the study come from an upper level of compulsory school in the area around Stockholm, and the North American subjects of the study come from two private Catholic schools in New York. The subjects answered Gibbs’ Moral questionnaire (Gibbs &amp; Widaman, 1982; Socio-moral Reflections Measure; SRM), which is a revised version of Kohlberg’s survey method for estimating individual moral development and qualitative moral viewpoints. The analysis showed no Nation-bound differences concerning moral development level between the youths. Neither could any differences between Swedish and North American young peoples’ way of reasoning on moral issues be traced, except in two cases, which possibly show a typical Swedish and a typical North American way of thinking and defending ethical standpoints. The result is discussed in relation to mentioned theories of the subject area.

nationalisme vécu, Flandre, Belgique, mémoire familiale, appartenance nationale, nation / Contrairement à la plupart des études portant sur la nation et les divers phénomènes s’y rattachant, ce mémoire ne porte pas sur l’émergence de cette forme de représentation communautaire ou sur les effets du nationalisme sur nos institutions politiques. Il a plutôt pour objet le sens vécu, les sentiments d’appartenance nationaux et la façon dont ils peuvent être exprimés et expérimentés. En se penchant sur la façon dont les individus vivent et présentent leur affiliation nationale, cette recherche s’est donnée pour but de comprendre la manière dont les citoyens d’une communauté se représentent et se construisent en tant que sujets nationaux. En explorant la mémoire familiale des informateurs et informatrices à l’aide d’entretiens semi-dirigés, il a été possible d’observer et de comprendre le nationalisme vécu en Flandre. Cette forme de nationalisme n’est pas nécessairement revendicatrice ni même immédiatement perceptible, puisque partie intégrante de la vie des individus et de leur identité. L’étude de ce nationalisme vise à identifier et à comprendre la manière dont les citoyens de la communauté flamande donnent un sens aux soi-disant éléments nationaux intégrés à leur quotidien. Il permet, de plus, d’entrevoir en quoi l’imaginaire national consiste dans le vécu d’une population spécifique et comment il peut être projeté par les porteurs de cette identité. En étudiant l’appartenance nationale dans cette perspective, il a été possible de dresser un portrait des représentations de la nation d’une façon qui a été jusqu’à maintenant peu explorée. C’est ainsi qu’une forme de socialisation à la nation des plus inusitée a été mise à jour en Flandre : une socialisation à un discours de victimisation et d’oppression. C’est en effet en s’inscrivant délibérément dans une lignée où ils sont les descendants d’un peuple dominé et méprisé que les Flamands et les Flamandes arrivent à s’expliquer les qualités et les spécificités qu’ils identifient comme proprement flamandes, mais surtout de s’identifier comme étant aujourd’hui les « meilleures Belges ». / This master thesis, in contrast to most studies concerning the nation and its various phenomena, does not focus on the emergence of a form of community or the effects of nationalism on our political institutions. It rather studies the experienced meanings, the feelings of national belonging and how they can be expressed and experienced. By focusing on how people live and talk about their national affiliation, the aim of this research is to understand how citizens of a given community represent their national belonging and build themselves as national subjects. Using semi-structured interviews and exploring family memory, it has been possible to observe and understand everyday nationalism in Flanders. This form of nationalism is not necessarily strongly asserted or even noticeable; it is integrated in the lives of individuals. Studying this specific form of nationalism allows the researcher to identify and explain how people make sense of those so-called national elements integrated into everyday life. It also gives a glimpse of what the national imagination is in the experienced meanings of a specific population and how it can be projected by the holders of this identity. By studying this aspect of national belonging, it has been possible to sketch out a portrait of representations of the nation in a way that has been so far little explored. Hence, a most unusual form of socialization to a national community has been identified in Flanders: socialization to a discourse of victimisation and oppression. By deliberately considering themselves as part of a line whose ascendants were dominated and despised, the Flemishs make sense of the genuine qualities and specificities that they identified as properly Flemish, but most of all, it allows them to refer themselves as the “best Belgians”.

nationalisme vécu, Flandre, Belgique, mémoire familiale, appartenance nationale, nation / Contrairement à la plupart des études portant sur la nation et les divers phénomènes s’y rattachant, ce mémoire ne porte pas sur l’émergence de cette forme de représentation communautaire ou sur les effets du nationalisme sur nos institutions politiques. Il a plutôt pour objet le sens vécu, les sentiments d’appartenance nationaux et la façon dont ils peuvent être exprimés et expérimentés. En se penchant sur la façon dont les individus vivent et présentent leur affiliation nationale, cette recherche s’est donnée pour but de comprendre la manière dont les citoyens d’une communauté se représentent et se construisent en tant que sujets nationaux. En explorant la mémoire familiale des informateurs et informatrices à l’aide d’entretiens semi-dirigés, il a été possible d’observer et de comprendre le nationalisme vécu en Flandre. Cette forme de nationalisme n’est pas nécessairement revendicatrice ni même immédiatement perceptible, puisque partie intégrante de la vie des individus et de leur identité. L’étude de ce nationalisme vise à identifier et à comprendre la manière dont les citoyens de la communauté flamande donnent un sens aux soi-disant éléments nationaux intégrés à leur quotidien. Il permet, de plus, d’entrevoir en quoi l’imaginaire national consiste dans le vécu d’une population spécifique et comment il peut être projeté par les porteurs de cette identité. En étudiant l’appartenance nationale dans cette perspective, il a été possible de dresser un portrait des représentations de la nation d’une façon qui a été jusqu’à maintenant peu explorée. C’est ainsi qu’une forme de socialisation à la nation des plus inusitée a été mise à jour en Flandre : une socialisation à un discours de victimisation et d’oppression. C’est en effet en s’inscrivant délibérément dans une lignée où ils sont les descendants d’un peuple dominé et méprisé que les Flamands et les Flamandes arrivent à s’expliquer les qualités et les spécificités qu’ils identifient comme proprement flamandes, mais surtout de s’identifier comme étant aujourd’hui les « meilleures Belges ». / This master thesis, in contrast to most studies concerning the nation and its various phenomena, does not focus on the emergence of a form of community or the effects of nationalism on our political institutions. It rather studies the experienced meanings, the feelings of national belonging and how they can be expressed and experienced. By focusing on how people live and talk about their national affiliation, the aim of this research is to understand how citizens of a given community represent their national belonging and build themselves as national subjects. Using semi-structured interviews and exploring family memory, it has been possible to observe and understand everyday nationalism in Flanders. This form of nationalism is not necessarily strongly asserted or even noticeable; it is integrated in the lives of individuals. Studying this specific form of nationalism allows the researcher to identify and explain how people make sense of those so-called national elements integrated into everyday life. It also gives a glimpse of what the national imagination is in the experienced meanings of a specific population and how it can be projected by the holders of this identity. By studying this aspect of national belonging, it has been possible to sketch out a portrait of representations of the nation in a way that has been so far little explored. Hence, a most unusual form of socialization to a national community has been identified in Flanders: socialization to a discourse of victimisation and oppression. By deliberately considering themselves as part of a line whose ascendants were dominated and despised, the Flemishs make sense of the genuine qualities and specificities that they identified as properly Flemish, but most of all, it allows them to refer themselves as the “best Belgians”.

This project provides a coalitional reading of Chinese Canadian literature, film, and history based on an allegorical framework of Asian-Indigenous relationalities. It tracks how Chinese labour stories set during the period of Chinese exclusion can not only leverage national belonging for Chinese settlers but also be reread for a different sense of belonging that remains attentive to other exclusions made natural by settler colonial discourses and institutional structures, that is, the disavowal of Indigenous presence and claims to sovereignty and autochthony. It contributes to important discussions about the experiences of racism and oppression that typically privilege the relations and tensions of diasporic and Indigenous communities but hardly with each other. What is more, this study aligns with a recent surge of interest in investigating Asian-Indigenous relations in Asian Canadian, Asian American, and Asian diaspora studies. The political investments driving this project show a deep commitment to anti-racist and decolonial advocacy. By examining how Chinese cultural workers in Canada have tried to do justice to the Head Tax generation’s experiences of racial exclusion and intersectional oppressions in fiction, non-fiction, graphic non-fiction, and documentaries, it asks whether there are ways to ethically assert an excluded and marginalized Chinese presence in the context of the settler colonial state. By doing justice to the exclusion of Chinese settlers in the national imaginary, do Chinese cultural workers as a result perform an injustice to the originary presence of Indigenous peoples? This thesis re-examines the anti-racist imperative that frames Chinese labour stories set during the period of Chinese exclusion in Canada: by exploring whether social justice projects by racially marginalized communities can simultaneously re-assert an excluded racialized presence and honour their treaty rights and responsibilities, it works to apprehend the colonial positionality of the Chinese diaspora within the Canadian settler state. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This project examines representations of Chinese labour and Asian-Indigenous relations in Chinese Canadian literature and film. By focusing on how Chinese Canadian writers and artists honour and remember the nation-building contributions and sacrifices of Chinese labourers in stories set in Canada during the period of anti-Chinese legislation policies such as the Chinese Head Tax and the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, this thesis provides a critical look at the values and ideologies that these narratives may draw upon. It asks whether it is possible for writers and artists to commemorate Chinese labour stories without also extending the colonization of Indigenous peoples, forgetting the history of Asian-Indigenous relationships, or promoting work ethic values that may hinder community building with Indigenous peoples and respecting Indigenous ways of living and working off the land. This study explores questions of history, memory, national belonging, social justice, decolonization, and relationship building.

Security and race have historically been entangled in the politics of nation-building, whereby national security discourses have constructed the ‘public’ whom it should protect as ‘white’ while demonizing persons of colour as a threat to that public. In the current war against terrorism, these racialized discourses, underwritten by a colonial logic, have materialized through the symbolic and literal displacement of Muslim persons. Under this imperative of national security, both existing and novel legislations have either been suspended, contorted, or implemented to be used against Muslims, or anyone who visibly appears Muslim. Security certificates are one of such judicial tools. This thesis seeks to explore the experiences of securitization, analyzing how this legislation strips the subjects of the security certificate program of their legal rights and social connectedness. To explore this, I interviewed three of the five men from the ‘Secret Trial Five’ cases and some of their family members. I investigate how securitization manifests in the lives of those who have been securitized, exploring the practices that are used to maintain and reinforce the othering and the displacement of Muslim populations.