This study asks whether the use of non-English words in the novels of Canadian Mennonites perpetuates a cultural binary, and concludes that it does not. The use of the non-English word, rather than enforcing a binary between "us and them", ultimately reveals that cultural boundaries are permeable and unstable. Recent reader-response theory, which sees the reader as always influenced by a context, is central to this inquiry. Analysis of readers' responses in the form of questionnaires constitutes part of the support for my assertions, while an examination of typography, orthography, interlingua, and theme in three novels by Canadian Mennonites provides the balance. Chapter one lays the theoretical framework for the investigation. It discusses: reader-response theory and the impossibility of accessing a stable textual meaning coincidental with the author's intention, the challenge of the non-English word to the concept of universality, and the distinction between proper “English" and non-institutional "english". Chapter two examines some readers' responses to non-English words and finds that “inside" readers have interpretations in common with "outside” readers, and that variations exist between the interpretations of “inside" readers. A binary model is too simplistic to encompass the range of contexts from which readers read. Chapter three discusses typography, orthography, and interlanguage in relation to (Low) German, and suggests the importance of these features to a discussion of the texts. Chapters four through six examine Rudy Wiebe's The Blue Mountains of China (1970), Anne Konrad's The Blue Jar (1985), and Armin Wiebe's The Salvation of Yasch Siemens (1984) respectively. Each novel's thematic concern with cultural boundaries serves as a framework for interpreting its physical and linguistic features. Chapter seven concludes by examining the influence of my own fragmented identity on the development of my argument, and revisits the issue of authorial intent in our politically less-than-perfect world. A lengthy appendix serves as a pluralistic glossary to the texts, and contains the responses to my questionnaires. A brief section outlines some of the appendix's interesting patterns and trends. An index to the appendix is provided since the appendix is not arranged alphabetically.

This study asks whether the use of non-English words in the novels of Canadian Mennonites perpetuates a cultural binary, and concludes that it does not. The use of the non-English word, rather than enforcing a binary between "us and them", ultimately reveals that cultural boundaries are permeable and unstable. Recent reader-response theory, which sees the reader as always influenced by a context, is central to this inquiry. Analysis of readers' responses in the form of questionnaires constitutes part of the support for my assertions, while an examination of typography, orthography, interlingua, and theme in three novels by Canadian Mennonites provides the balance. Chapter one lays the theoretical framework for the investigation. It discusses: reader-response theory and the impossibility of accessing a stable textual meaning coincidental with the author's intention, the challenge of the non-English word to the concept of universality, and the distinction between proper “English" and non-institutional "english". Chapter two examines some readers' responses to non-English words and finds that “inside" readers have interpretations in common with "outside” readers, and that variations exist between the interpretations of “inside" readers. A binary model is too simplistic to encompass the range of contexts from which readers read. Chapter three discusses typography, orthography, and interlanguage in relation to (Low) German, and suggests the importance of these features to a discussion of the texts. Chapters four through six examine Rudy Wiebe's The Blue Mountains of China (1970), Anne Konrad's The Blue Jar (1985), and Armin Wiebe's The Salvation of Yasch Siemens (1984) respectively. Each novel's thematic concern with cultural boundaries serves as a framework for interpreting its physical and linguistic features. Chapter seven concludes by examining the influence of my own fragmented identity on the development of my argument, and revisits the issue of authorial intent in our politically less-than-perfect world. A lengthy appendix serves as a pluralistic glossary to the texts, and contains the responses to my questionnaires. A brief section outlines some of the appendix's interesting patterns and trends. An index to the appendix is provided since the appendix is not arranged alphabetically. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation analyzes Mennonite missionary engagement with African Independent Churches in West Africa. The engagement between missionaries and indigenous churches gave rise to a novel mission interaction with a non-western form of Christianity. It led to the early development of mission strategy and theory from an intentionally Anabaptist perspective. Based upon close analysis of archival material, the dissertation examines the extended encounter between missionaries and Independents in southeastern Nigeria between 1958 and 1967. It places the encounter within the context of the religious history of both groups and outlines the influence of the experience on subsequent mission work. This case study sheds new light on the emergence of African indigenous Christian movements and western Christians’ interaction with those movements during the period of decolonization and African nationalism. The history that this study constructs shows that the religious and missiological assumptions that each party brought to the encounter complicated their relationship. The Independents’ religious history led them to expect missionaries to establish traditional mission educational and healthcare institutions that would reinforce their well-being. Missionaries Edwin and Irene Weaver and their colleagues were hesitant to do so, since their experience in India had convinced them that such institutions caused dependency on foreign funds and impeded indigenization. They focused, rather, on encouraging better relationships between estranged Independents and mission churches, capacitating Independent churches through biblical training, and reinforcing Independents’ indigenous identity. Yet some Nigerian Independents insisted on a traditional mission relationship and its accompanying Mennonite identity. Missionaries borrowed mission theory about indigenization from the wider missionary movement, but applied and modified it over time, finally incorporating it into an Anabaptist missionary approach for work in Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Benin. This study suggests that while relationships between streams of the Christian movement are conditioned by their different religious histories and cultures, they nevertheless generate missiological insights. Through this engagement missionaries articulated an Anabaptist missiology that became influential throughout Africa. In turn, the Mennonite missionary presence enabled some Nigerian Independents to network successfully with the world Christian movement via their Mennonite affiliation.

In 1957 the Southern Manitoba Broadcasting Company launched radio station CFAM in Altona, Manitoba. The privately owned outlet emerged from the province’s Mennonite community at a moment when its people were negotiating the powerful forces of social, economic, and cultural change that were transforming North American rural life. This study describes the origins of what became known as Radio Southern Manitoba and its development into a regional cultural institution as it cultivated a broad audience over its first two decades on the air. The primary focus of this analysis is Radio Southern Manitoba’s role in the Mennonite community, and its influence in the cultural reformulation that transmuted Mennonite group identity in the latter half of the twentieth century. Through an examination of the activities and materials pertaining to the production of the radio broadcast, and a limited consideration of sources describing its consumption, this thesis explores how the broadcaster reflected and attempted to shape the culture and practices of its Mennonite audience segment. It finds that through an unconventional mix of farm programming, classical and semi-classical music, religious broadcasts, and community services, CFAM (and its later sister stations) encouraged a version of Mennonite identity deemed acceptable by members of this ethno-religious group as it shifted from being a relatively isolated people to subjects in a pluralistic, modern society. / May 2009

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-129).

In 1957 the Southern Manitoba Broadcasting Company launched radio station CFAM in Altona, Manitoba. The privately owned outlet emerged from the province’s Mennonite community at a moment when its people were negotiating the powerful forces of social, economic, and cultural change that were transforming North American rural life. This study describes the origins of what became known as Radio Southern Manitoba and its development into a regional cultural institution as it cultivated a broad audience over its first two decades on the air. The primary focus of this analysis is Radio Southern Manitoba’s role in the Mennonite community, and its influence in the cultural reformulation that transmuted Mennonite group identity in the latter half of the twentieth century. Through an examination of the activities and materials pertaining to the production of the radio broadcast, and a limited consideration of sources describing its consumption, this thesis explores how the broadcaster reflected and attempted to shape the culture and practices of its Mennonite audience segment. It finds that through an unconventional mix of farm programming, classical and semi-classical music, religious broadcasts, and community services, CFAM (and its later sister stations) encouraged a version of Mennonite identity deemed acceptable by members of this ethno-religious group as it shifted from being a relatively isolated people to subjects in a pluralistic, modern society.

In 1957 the Southern Manitoba Broadcasting Company launched radio station CFAM in Altona, Manitoba. The privately owned outlet emerged from the province’s Mennonite community at a moment when its people were negotiating the powerful forces of social, economic, and cultural change that were transforming North American rural life. This study describes the origins of what became known as Radio Southern Manitoba and its development into a regional cultural institution as it cultivated a broad audience over its first two decades on the air. The primary focus of this analysis is Radio Southern Manitoba’s role in the Mennonite community, and its influence in the cultural reformulation that transmuted Mennonite group identity in the latter half of the twentieth century. Through an examination of the activities and materials pertaining to the production of the radio broadcast, and a limited consideration of sources describing its consumption, this thesis explores how the broadcaster reflected and attempted to shape the culture and practices of its Mennonite audience segment. It finds that through an unconventional mix of farm programming, classical and semi-classical music, religious broadcasts, and community services, CFAM (and its later sister stations) encouraged a version of Mennonite identity deemed acceptable by members of this ethno-religious group as it shifted from being a relatively isolated people to subjects in a pluralistic, modern society.

Research paper--Bethel College, 2006. / "A research paper presented to the Department of History, Bethel College... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course, Social Science Seminar, History 482, Mark Jantzen, advisor"--t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p.65-68).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-186).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-186).