The second largest ethnic group in Alberta, the German ethnolinguistic community has played a significant role in Alberta's history, but the future is bleak for maintaining German language and culture in the multicultural mosaic of Alberta. This book examines the stature of the German language in Alberta by addressing the use of German in the community and the teaching of German in schools and universities in the province.

This volume presents seventeen articles, revised and expanded from a Max Kade Symposium, on the German language in North America. It includes historical studies (colonial German in contrast with Native American languages, the language of Pietism among colonial immigrants), dialect descriptions (Donau-schwäbisch in the Midwest, Low German in Kansas, Volga German in Kansas) and investigations into the impact of German on English (German ethnic varieties of English, German in advertising, German loanwords in American English). Research on language maintenance and shift is especially well-represented, with a general theoretical contribution and case studies of Alberta, Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, and the Amana colonies. Methodological and theoretical issues include case loss and morphosyntactic change (East Franconian in Indiana), a comparative study of German in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as several papers on Pennsylvania German, treating linguistic convergence, language attitudes, and sociolingusitic variation.

Language in Canada provides an up-to-date account of the linguistic and cultural situation in Canada, primarily from a sociolinguistic perspective. The strong central theme connecting language with group and identity will offer insights into the current linguistic and cultural tension in Canada. The book provides comprehensive accounts of the original 'charter' languages, French and English, as well as the aboriginal and immigrant varieties which now contribute to the overall picture. It explains how they came into contact - and sometimes into conflict - and looks at the many ways in which they weave themselves through and around the Canadian social fabric. The public policy issues, particularly official bilingualism and educational policy and language, are also given extensive coverage. Non-specialists as well as linguists will find in this volume, a companion to Language in Australia, Language in the USA and Language in the British Isles, an indispensable guide and reference to the linguistic heritage of Canada.

Sounds of Ethnicity takes us into the linguistic, cultural, and geographical borderlands of German North America in the Great Lakes region between 1850 and 1914. Drawing connections between immigrant groups in Buffalo, New York, and Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, Barbara Lorenzkowski examines the interactions of language and music—specifically German-language education, choral groups, and music festivals—and their roles in creating both an ethnic sense of self and opportunities for cultural exchanges at the local, ethnic, and transnational levels. She exposes the tensions between the self-declared ethnic leadership that extolled the virtues of the German mother tongue as preserver of ethnic identity and gateway to scholarship and high culture, and the hybrid realities of German North America where the lives of migrants were shaped by two languages, English and German. Theirs was a song not of cultural purity, but of cultural fusion that gave meaning to the way German migrants made a home for themselves in North America.Written in lively and elegant prose, Sounds of Ethnicity is a new and exciting approach to the history of immigration and identity in North America.

The first graduate conference of the Young Scholars' Network of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking countries took place in Berlin in 2004. The conference has been an integral part of the academic year in Canadian Studies ever since. It offers an opportunity for young scholars to present their B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. projects and receive feedback and helpful suggestions from peers and experts. This type of academic exchange is particularly important in Canadian Studies as they often occupy a marginal position at universities. Beside graduate students from Canada, Germany and Austria, prominent Canadian scholars have also been invited to speak at the conference every year. This volume contains selected contributions (in English, German and French) presented at the first five graduate conferences and demonstrates the large scope of Canadian studies in German-speaking countries. Die erste Graduiertentagung für Kanada-Studien des Nachwuchsforums der Gesellschaft für Kanada-Studien e. V. (GKS) wurde 2004 in Berlin veranstaltet. Dieses Forum für junge KanadistInnen ist seitdem ein fixer Bestandteil des akademischen Jahres der Kanada-Studien geworden: Angehende WissenschaftlerInnen präsentieren Abschlussarbeiten und in Arbeit befindliche Dissertationen und bekommen von ExpertInnen und KollegInnen fachliche Reaktionen und Hilfestellung. Dies ist besonders für einen Bereich wie die Kanada-Studien von Bedeutung, da sie an vielen Universitäten nur marginal vertreten sind. Neben Graduierten aus Kanada, Deutschland und Österreich haben regelmäßig auch international anerkannte kanadische WissenschaftlerInnen teilgenommen. Dieser Band präsentiert eine Zusammenstellung (in englischer, deutscher und französischer Sprache) der interessantesten Vorträge der ersten fünf Jahre der Graduiertentagungen und demonstriert die Vielfalt der Projekte und der Kanada-Studien insgesamt.

In German Canadians: Community Formation, Transformation and Contribution to Canadian Life, Grenke explores important themes in the German Canadian experience, including immigration, social life, the war experiences, intermarriage, political participation and the German contribution to Canadian life. Focusing on language maintenance and transition, the study explores their effect on the formation and decline of different German Canadian communities as they emerged and dissolved. While the reader may, or may not, agree with some of the conclusions reached, the work should, nevertheless, stimulate reflection and discussion.

Today German Canadians are among Canada’s most assimilated citizens, often distinguishable from other Canadians by their name only. For centuries their pioneer farmers, economic developers, industrialists, professionals, musicians, artists, missionaries, fisherman, boat builders, and soldiers have acquired an acknowledged reputation as nation builders in Canada. Not too long ago, however, they were also associated with Canada’s enemy in two world wars, discriminated against, and subjected to infringements of their citizenship rights. Virtually overnight, Canadians of German-speaking background were recast into disloyal enemy aliens. Anti-German sentiments and stigmas, unknown in Canada before World War I, became firmly entrenched and have obliterated their legacy as nation builders. This book documents and illustrates how German Canadians have experienced Canada and how Canada has experienced German Canadians over the course of four centuries. It shows what influence Canada’s relations with Germany had on this development. This is the first comprehensive synopsis of the German experience in Canada.