Svea folk i Babels land : Svensk identitet i Kanada under
1900-talets första hälft  by Rönnqvist, Carina  Abstract
(Summary) The aim of this thesis is to shed light upon the
construction of identity within the Swedish- Canadian immigrant
group during the first half of the 20th century. The most
important sources of ethnic and nationalistic influences this
study scrutinizes are the homeland Sweden, Swedish-America,
Scandinavian-Canada and the Canadian host society. It also
examines the interaction with other social identities, such as
gender and religion. Theoretically, this dissertation takes its
point of departure in Fredrik Barth’s assumptions on cultural
boundaries and ethnic grouping, which emphasizes the meeting and
confrontation with other groups as a trigger in the development
of a new ethnic identity. The study is carried out on three
partly interacting levels: the individual, the organizational
and the official/ rhetorical level.On the individual level, the
first generation Swedes in Canada was proba