The Acadian Diaspora by Christopher Hodson (review)

Reviews 241 purpose is underscored by the subtitles of each chapter, which are labeled with oneline lessons or recommendations that relate to the chapter content. Hawthorne’s“story of the story”succeeds in revealing the truth about this fascinating and enigmatic figure while allowing the reader to share in the frustration and joy of discovery in humanities research. Texas Christian University Sharon L. Fairchild Hodson, Christopher. The Acadian Diaspora. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. ISBN 9780 -19-973977-6. Pp. 260. $34.95. In late summer of 1755, British ships entered present-day Nova Scotia to deport 7,000 out of 15,000 Acadians into the unknown. Soon after, 5,000 more from Île SaintJean (Prince Edward Island) and Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) followed them.After years of hard work and alliances with the Mi’kmaq Native Americans,these descendants of seventeenth-century French immigrants had succeeded in producing abundant crops. Caught in the political power struggles between Great Britain and France, they maintained their neutrality. The British, reluctant to adopt Francophone Catholics into their expanding Empire, expelled the unwanted settlers and repopulated the area with loyal citizens. Hodson sees this dérangement in biblical terms, similar to the Jewish diaspora in ancient and contemporary history. Inhospitable receptions and separation of families became the lot of these eighteenth-century exiles, much like today’s ethnic cleansing. The Acadians landed in various cities along the Atlantic coast, in Spanish Louisiana, across the Atlantic in England and France. Almost nowhere were they welcomed. Dreams of restoring a lost colonial empire impelled French adventurers to send them to Saint-Domingue (Haiti), French Guiana, and the Falkland Islands. All ventures failed. The Acadians’agricultural prowess prompted the French government to settle them in Poitou and Belle-Ile-en-Mer. Their reception was no better there. Disease and epidemics claimed many, as they huddled in overcrowded boats and in harbors that refused them entry. Yet the tenacity of the Acadians remains legendary. In literature and legend they appear as people who sought their loved ones, guarded their traditions in hopes of recreating a lost world. However, Hodson explores the diaspora from another perspective, namely, that Acadian destinies depended not only on their own identities, but also on the historical times in which they lived. He develops“the role of Acadians in building empires, and the role of empires in forming Acadians”(10). They became pawns in a colonial market in the aftermath of the Seven Years War.Hodson studies the colonial fortunes and misfortunes,the rivalries and ruses of the British and French in building their empires. Hodson has consulted numerous archival sources to document the wanderings and eventual settlements of the displaced Acadians. He relates a series of mini-biographies and episodes that give faces and names to the dispersed exiles. Some formed friendships with their hosts, like Charles White (Leblanc) in Philadelphia, or Simon Leblanc near Boston. Others led rebel groups, like Joseph Broussard, dit Beausoleil, who journeyed from Halifax to the Caribbean . Still others,likeAugustin Benoit and his family,found prosperity,albeit temporary, in the Falkland Islands. The book is well-documented, with numerous footnotes and references, but unfortunately without a bibliography. Hobson includes many French sources and some Acadian terms, such as aboiteaux (dikes) which provide local color. Maps and illustrations provide visual anchors. The book is intriguing, and provides an additional dimension to the Acadian story by situating it in its historical and geopolitical context, along with the individual actors of a dramatic event. Chestnut Hill College (PA) Mary Helen Kashuba Kepel, Gilles. Banlieue de la République: société, politique et religion à Clichy-sousBois et Montfermeil. Paris: Gallimard, 2012. ISBN 978-2-07-013682-7. Pp. 530. 28,90 a. Ce livre est le résultat d’une enquête réalisée en 2010 auprès de cent personnes habitant ou ayant habité à Clichy-Montfermeil,en banlieue parisienne.L’agglomération, à l’origine des émeutes qui embrasèrent la France en 2005, est présentée comme une banlieue emblématique où peut s’observer la réalisation—ou pas—de la promesse républicaine. Les interlocuteurs, étrangers (vingt-trois) et français (soixante-dix-sept, dont soixante...