The Newfoundland Diaspora

"Jennifer Bowering Delisle's The Newfoundland Diaspora prompts us to revise not just our conceptions of Newfoundland identity but also our understanding of the very idea of diaspora. This is a significant meditation on the shifting nature of regionalism and national identity in the age of globalization, an era of increasing migration, mobility, and deracination. At a time in which the continuous inhabitation of the same place is becoming less and less common, we need more complex and nuanced descriptions of the relationship between place, cultural identity, and collective identification, and that is what The Newfoundland Diaspora delivers." -- Herb Wyile, author of Anne of Tim Hortons: Globalization and the Reshaping of Atlantic-Canadian Literature (WLU Press, 2011)
Canada is what social critic Avtar Brah would call a "diaspora space" region filled with transnational groups-and Delisle's book, with an excellent biography, is a brilliant precedent for studying other diasporic communities. Summing up: Highly recommended. -- B. Almon, University of Alberta -- CHOICE
"Reading Delisle's astute examination of select pieces of Newfoundland literature I felt more than once the desire to throttle some of the authors and characters she is analyzing-characters who resist giving up their Newfoundland driver's license because it "was the last proof of who [they] were" or argue a "Newfoundland soul" can never be a "Canadian soul." Reading such claims I wanted to grasp these characters by the shoulders and scream into their faces, "Give it up, baby! Did you want to live down the road from mom and dad your entire life?" My own individual (and, I realize, defensive) reaction to these very personal narratives helps identify how tangly a topic Delisle has chosen to tackle in the "Newfoundalnd diaspora." She does well to present a focused, important text that is at times passionate and intimate while at other times critical and distant. The Newfoundland Diaspora is a valuable text for those choosing to understand and challenge the applicability of postcolonial theory to Canadian literature.... Delisle ... makes the wise decision to not simply answer the question, "Is there a Newfoundland diaspora" Rather she ... replies with a question of her own: "what opportunities for understanding [Newfoundland] are provided by the question?" Delisle's innovative approach produces some very strong readings of important if under-analyzed Newfoundland literature." - Paul Chafe, Ryerson University, Newfoundland Quarterly