The Ku Klux Klan has been active in North America for 139 years and organizations like the Klan have existed in North America since before the United States and Canada became independent nations. The white supremacy advocated by the Klan mimics the justifications used by colonial powers, and though the United States and Canada have espoused egalitarian ideals for quite some time, the Klan continues to attract members.
Mircea Eliade and Claude Levi-Strauss have argued that history and myth share many characteristics, and that sometimes history can act as myth. Understanding how North American history can be a mythic model for the religious formation of North American people one can better explain the long-term viability of the Klan and its ability not only to inspire violence, but to articulate a particular kind of white North American identity. This study examines how the religiosity and action of the Klan has been informed by mytho-historical influences in the United States and Canada and, consequently, how these influences affect other people formed in this context.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/26592 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Bryant, Andrew M |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 113 p. |
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