“More German than the Germans:” A linguistic examination of representation and identity in two German-Canadian communities
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Abstract
This thesis is a linguistic examination of the construction of German-Canadian identity in two urban Canadian communities: Edmonton, Alberta and Waterloo, Ontario. Combining the complementary frameworks of van Dijk’s (1995) Discourse Analysis as Ideology Analysis and Carbaugh’s (2007) Cultural Discourse Analysis, this thesis takes a cultural approach to examine how German-Canadian immigrants construct identity, position membership, and enact belonging. Through an examination of 91 interviews recorded with self-described German-Canadians, this thesis identifies specific linguistic tools by which these participants make Germanness and Canadianness relevant in conversation. It examines the means by which community and belonging are expressed, and it considers the categories of membership which participants wittingly and unwittingly construct.