Narratives of settlement : immigration, change and identity among new immigrants to Winnipeg

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dc.contributor.authorLaTouche, Ameliaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-11-30T21:36:24Z
dc.date.available2009-11-30T21:36:24Z
dc.date.issued2006-08-01T00:00:00Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineAnthropologyen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts (M.A.)en_US
dc.description.abstractMy objective in this research was to document the settlement narratives of new immigrants who recently immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Specific focus was placed on how individuals who share common settlement experiences had distinct interpretations, explanations and definitions of these similar events. Fifteen participants contributed to this research by doing semi-structured interviews. I posited that the participants would have cohesive stories about their settlement experiences, each with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This hypothesis was based on the theory that people present their lives to themselves and others in the form of narratives, either verbally or internally, to create coherence, consciously or otherwise, out of sometimes contradictory or confusing events and feelings. All narratives were informed in their own way by intersubjective experience and knowledge. Many of the participants had similar notions of migration, and many also had shared or partially shared norms and social understandings pertaining to gender, education, socio-economic status, and English as a second language. However, each narrative also reflected the distinctiveness of each participant. The participants' narratives were shaped by their particular experiences of culture and identity, transnational connections across borders, and relationships with both co-ethnic groups and others. Several key issues emerged from this research. The participants described many experiences which demanded different kinds of adaptation and change, and each pointed to different strategies with which they responded. The participants had a shared knowledge of how immigration and settlement commonly occur, and by their accounts their own experiences were distinct and often deviated from this norm. The definitions and meaning that each participant applied to his or her settlement process were highly personalized, reflecting the circumstances of his or her settlement and his or her individual identity. By presenting and discussing new immigrants' narratives of settlement, this research represents the participants' untold stories of the moving home which, when told, are verbalizations of the process of movement, adaptation, change and growth into new cultural surroundings and a modified personal identity. This research allowed for a greater understanding of the individual experience of settlement, and for the realization that there are multiple, diverse kinds of immigration.en_US
dc.format.extent10225311 bytesen_US
dc.format.extent10225311 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier(Sirsi) a1683135en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/3293
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.rightsThe reproduction of this thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner.en_US
dc.titleNarratives of settlement : immigration, change and identity among new immigrants to Winnipegen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
local.subject.manitobayesen_US
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