Les Allemands du Québec: Parcours et discours d'une communauté méconnue (review)

This revised doctoral thesis (Strasbourg, 1997) is divided into three main chapters and fourteen subchapters; in addition, subtitled sections make it very reader-friendly. It is a treasure chest of German-Canadiana information that extends far beyond Québec. The drawback is that the anecdotal cornucopia tends to overwhelm the reader and make her or him lose sight of the big picture, namely that Germanophone immigrants to Québec throughout the centuries had to wrestle with a very wide range of identity problems. Coming from native cultures with serious identity problems, they – in most cases – transformed themselves rapidly into "good citizens" of their host country.

The first chapter provides an overview of the various "German" groups that immigrated to Canada at different time periods. A second chapter addresses the complex and diverse reaction of belonging after 1945. The third chapter is devoted to the complex interrelation of the German communities to the Québec "distinctive culture(s)." A fair judgment would be that the main feature of this study falls somewhere between "cultural studies" and " social anthropology." Since it is filled with an enormous amount of factual information, this review concentrates on selected highlights.

Subchapter 3 describes how German immigrants were successful, "upwardly mobile" social climbers and, in the case of Montréal, moved to residential areas in the western part inhabited by established British immigrants. It contains interesting insights on Karin Gürttler's ground-breaking work, Geschichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft zu Montreal, 1835–1985.

The cultural institutions that disseminate German culture and teach the German language are the focus of subchapter 6. The Saturday schools, the Alexander von Humboldt Schule, the Goethe-Institut, and various university departments receive mention here. Subchapter 7 discusses the role of the Kanada Kurier, a newspaper reflecting the changing attitudes in the Heimat the immigrants had left behind in body, but by no means in spirit. Many Germano-phone immigrants took Canada/Québec as a second choice, having failed to be accepted into the USA (30f.), and little did they know about the social realities of this province. This applies particularly to Jewish immigrants from Germany (subchapter 9). Meune does not properly address the issue of when this group was quick to accuse as "Nazi terror" the repressive measures that the séparatistes, nationalists, and souveraignistes took to ensure what they believed to be in the interest of Québec's Francophone national identity. This is still a heatedly debated topic, and its hyperbolic language is a source of considerable misunderstanding. On the other hand there were German nationalists who strongly identified with Québec nationalists (218ff.).

Meune's monograph will be a classic on the topic owing to its treasure of facts and its readability. Yet there are some irritating omissions. Hermann Böschenstein, German professor at the University of Toronto and devoted caregiver to camps of German prisoners of war (in charge of "culture"), is not even mentioned. Also absent is Mario von Brentani. He was the contact person for East Germany, whose government funded his German newspaper based in Montreal, Die Montrealer Nachrichten. He was the central figure of a scandal when it turned out that his campaign for recognition of the GDR in Canada was based on a fraudulent claim of support. Theologian Gregory Baum, one of the "campboys" – people who had fled to England and were later transferred to Canada – is prominently featured in his complex relation to Québec nationalism. Missing, however, is another even more prominent figure: Walter Hitschfeld, a McGill professor of meteorology, hailing from Vienna, who became a very influential vice-principal during a turbulent time in Québec. He displayed his diplomatic skills associated with his Heimat with various governments. Nor is there mention of one of the former directors of the Goethe Institute, Itta Sixt, who had the ingenious idea of installing a movie theatre (for which she was severely reprimanded...