Note: / During the past few years a number of thorough studies have been made of immigration into Canada and the United states. These have not only revealed the quantitative movement of large numbers of people across international boundaries with the expressed intention of establishing permanent residence, but have also indicated the precise nature of the social process of immigration. The studies of’ the latter have been most profitable in bringing out the causative factors of migration and the by-productual results affecting individual personalities and the general body politic among which they seek an economic and social niche. [...]

Over time, the Italian community has become an integral part of Canada's ethnic mosaic. However, to what 'ethnic' cost has this integration occurred? This thesis looks at issues of ethnic retention among successive generations of Italian families living in Montreal. Focus is placed on three fundamental questions: (a) How did the Italian community change through generations? (b) Are the young generations displaying signs of symbolic ethnicity? and (c) How can the ethnic identity of Italians in Montreal be defined in 2005? Drawing on Herbert Gans' symbolic ethnicity approach, the initial hypothesis suggests that socio-economic upgrade spurs an ethnic consciousness founded on cultural symbols rather than on cultural values. Through ethnographic-based interviews, data was collected on 60 individuals grouped into 20 Italian families. Based on in-depth intergenerational comparisons between grandparents, parents and youth, results seem to confirm that young Italians reflect a pattern of symbolic ethnicity.

During the language debates of the 1960s, Montreal's Italian community found itself in the middle of a conflict between Anglophones and Francophones. Forced to chose, the Italian community aligned itself with Anglophones. / The portrait which has been cast by numerous authors evokes the image of an Italian immigrant used as a pawn in a fight which generally was not his and which he could not understand. / An examination of the Italian press gives us a different image. St. Leonard represented more than a fight over the language issue. It was as much a dispute over the status of ethnic minorities in Quebec as it was over the language question. This study examines the immigrant's "Italianita" and how it helped shape his response to the ethnic tensions in St. Leonard.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The aim of this research paper is to analyse the literary works and the writers of Italian origin who have actively contributed to the creation of Italian-Canadian immigration literature, and above all, that referent to the Montreal milieu. For this and other reasons, it distinguishes itself from other Italian-Canadian productions and precisely due to this reality, the objective of this research is to: (1) examine its role, its characteristics, the difficulties its writers experience, its literary artistic value and the recognition it receives in our literary environment; (2) compare the creative approach adopted by some writers to the perfect example, Primo Levi; (3) expose its contents and reoccurring themes; (4) examine the question of the literary language of expression of these works; (5) demonstrate the social usefulness of this literary production.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis is a comparative, data-based analysis of the labour market experiences of the Italian and Jewish populations of Toronto at the end of the 1970s, beginning of the 1980s. It also provides historical and empirical information on the emergence and development of ethnic enclaves, and assesses whether such distinct enclave economies constitute channels for upward mobility for the Italian and Jewish individuals who participate in them. / The historical findings provide evidence for the distinctiveness of an enclave labour market within these two ethnic communities. The empirical evidence reveals however, that participation in the enclave economies is quite low for Toronto's Jewish and Italian communities. The evidence does not indicate that participation in the enclave is associated with either economic benefits or losses. However, informal networks and ethnic ties have strong positive effects on enclavic participation.

No description available.