The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2006, Qupperneq 24

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 60 #2
countrymen grew fewer with time, and
although they must have been more fre-
quent in the Icelandic towns, it is clear that
also their Icelandic ceased to be the lan-
guage at work. That may have affected lan-
guage use more than many would think.
Additionally, it must be said that, unfortu-
nately, Iceland has never had a very dis-
tinctive cusine, with Icelandic restaurants
competing with the delicacies of Canada.
Nor is there any other trade that is specifi-
cally Icelandic and that provides opportu-
nities for using the language at work.
Finally I should mention Icelanders
love of literature. When the immigrants
came to Canada they didn’t own much, and
their luggage didn’t take up much space.
Nevertheless they brought tons of books,
all kinds of books, manuscripts, printed
books, big books and small books. The
love of books, storytelling and poetry, has
been a big part of the Icelandic nation since
it came to exist as a specific nation and that
has stayed with the nation, even after they
emigrated and became Canadians. That fac-
tor certainly has a great affect on the exis-
tence of Icelandic in Canada.
The fact is that the Icelandic Canadian
society is going through very normal
changes that have affected almost all
minority groups in Canada, though differ-
ently. Wsevelovd Isajiw (1975:132) has
researched Canadian ethnic groups, and
has seen patterns that run through. (1) A
pattern of “transplantation” of the old cul-
ture, (2) the rebellion pattern, and (3) the
returning or rediscovery pattern. He makes
the assumption that these patterns are dis-
cernable under the conditions of pluralism
of ethnic stratification.
The pattern of transplantation refers to
the immigrants’ attempts to re-establish the
old country in the new country and applies
especially to the first-generation immi-
grants. “It is the process of building ethnic
ghettos, of establishing relations with peo-
ple whose sympathy and loyalty can be
assumed” (Isajiw 1975:132). This is actual-
ly the idea behind New Iceland. But as
Isajiw rightly points out, transplanted
things never grow the same, and the trans-
plantation pattern is not really a continua-
tion of the old ways. “Even in rather isolat-
ed areas the characteristics of the new soci-
ety impinge on the immigrant” (Isajiw
1975:133). Some people stay in this pattern
and generation after generation they hold
to their ethnic identy.” And there is noth-
ing wrong with that, as long as they have
also adjusted to the world around them and
participate in things other than those of
their transplanted new world.
The second pattern is the rebellion pat-
tern, which is specifically characteristic of
the second generation, although some first-
generation emigrants no doubt went that
way as well. They have a strong self-aware-
ness which comes about as “a consequence
of psychological confrontation with the
cultural ways and relational structures of
the larger society” (Isajiw 1975:133) and, as
Isajiw points out, “one result of such con-
frontation is either embarrassment, dissat-
isfaction with, or shame of one’s own
parental patterns and expectations”. The
reaction to this might be of various kind,
such as conscious rejection of one’s past or
overidentification with the dominant soci-
ety. No doubt there are many Icelandic
Canadians that have gone this way, but
they are not very visible, because they do
fall in with the crowd. Those who follow
the rediscovery pattern, however, are more
visible.
The rediscovery pattern is the most
important and most significant because it
works on maintenance of ethnic identy, a
project which can span over generations.
Isajiw (1975:133-134) describes the people
making up this pattern as “persons who
have gone through the basic process of
socialization not in the culture of their