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Research
“Second Generation”, Cultural Retention and Ethnic Identity:Young Portuguese and Portuguese-descendants in Canada. |
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Article |
| Contributed by: |
Armando Oliveira
Article accepted for publication by Trent University. |
The way in which young Portuguese and Portuguese-descendants of the diaspora relate to Portugal and the Portuguese culture, namely with respect to cultural and linguistic retention, is important in various respects, and may be analyzed from a number of perspectives. Looking at the situation from the point of view of young Portuguese and Portuguese-descendants living in the cities of Toronto and Montreal, in Canada, the present paper seeks to understand their attachment to (or detachment from) both of those realities - Portugal and the Portuguese culture - and, thus, their acceptance or denial of their respective ethnic identity. Naturally, this perspective is of interest to the youths themselves, as it concerns aspects of their life that are as important to them as their own identity. But it is also a perspective that bears considerable interest for the country of origin, since it provides a glimpse into what the future may hold in terms of the relationship between that country of origin and its diaspora, namely with respect to the very nature and intensity of that relationship.
The present paper is based on a study conducted by the authors and carried out in the cities of Toronto and Montreal, in the year 2001, on the incorporation of young Portuguese and Portuguese-descendents in those two Canadian cities (Oliveira and Teixeira, in press).
Besides using direct and participant observation and interviewing 23 qualified informants in both cities, the authors also collected data from a sample of 354 young Portuguese and Portuguese descendants, of which 244 in Toronto and 110 in Montreal. In both cities the sample took into account the Portuguese regional distribution of those interviewed (or of their parents) – Azores and mainland Portugal – as well as the distribution by sex, by age group – ages 14 to 24 and 25 to 34 – as well as by education – separating those who have completed mandatory schooling from those who have not. The data thus collected were then submitted to computer analysis at the Institute for Social Research, York University, in Toronto. |
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