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On Multiculturalism's Margins: Oral History and Afghan Former On Multiculturalism’s Margins: Oral History and Afghan Former Refugees in Early Twenty-first Century Winnipeg By Allison L. Penner A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of History Joint Master’s Program University of Manitoba / University of Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba Copyright © 2019 by Allison L. Penner Abstract Oral historians have long claimed that oral history enables people to present their experiences in an authentic way, lauding the potential of oral history to ‘democratize history’ and assist interviewees, particularly those who are marginalized, to ‘find their voices’. However, stories not only look backward at the past but also locate the individual in the present. As first demonstrated by Edward Said in Orientalism, Western societies have a long history of Othering non-Western cultures and people. While significant scholarly attention has been paid to this Othering, the responses of orientalised individuals (particularly those living in the West) have received substantially less attention. This thesis focuses on the multi-sessional life story oral history interviews that I conducted with five Afghan-Canadians between 2012 and 2015, most of whom came to Canada as refugees. These interviews were conducted during the Harper era, when celebrated Canadian notions of multiculturalism, freedom, and equality existed alongside Orientalist discourses about immigrants, refugees, Muslims, and Afghans. News stories and government policies and legislation highlighted the dangers that these groups posed to the Canadian public, ‘Canadian’ values, and women. Drawing on the theoretical work of notable oral historians including Mary Chamberlain and Alessandro Portelli, I consider the ways in which the narrators talked about themselves and their lives in light of these discourses. I argue that by first reflecting common Canadian narratives on these topics, the interviewees established their Canadian-ness and staked a claim within the national fold. Once they demonstrated themselves to be ‘good’ Canadians, Muslims, and refugees, they were able to nuance and sometimes outright challenge the widespread understandings of these issues reflected in Canadian discourses. This strategy, consciously or unconsciously undertaken, allowed them to deepen their connections to the country while also speaking back against the discourses that placed them on its fringes. ii Acknowledgments This research took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which exists on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene, and Métis Nations. Our water comes from the shores of Shoal Lake First Nations 39 and 40, in Treaty 3 territory. Shoal Lake 40 has been without clean, drinkable water since 1997. Our electricity comes from generating stations on rivers in Treaty Areas 1, 3, and 5. Terms of the Northern Flood Agreement with five Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba remain unfulfilled. First, my deepest gratitude to each of the people who agreed to be interviewed for this project and who were so generous with their time and their lives. It was truly a privilege and a joy to spend time with each of you and to listen to your stories. I owe a significant debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Alexander Freund. Thank you for introducing oral history to me. Your guidance and insight have been invaluable, and your faith in me strengthened my faith in myself. I am also grateful to the staff and faculty of the History Departments at the Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, especially Sylvie Winslow for the administrative assistance and her vast knowledge of university workings, and Kent Davies at the Oral History Centre for the technical support and assistance with recording and preserving these interviews. I am particularly appreciative for the time and thoughtful comments from my examining committee, Drs. Jennifer Dueck, Hans Werner, and Lori Wilkinson. I am extremely grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), The Winnipeg Foundation, the C. D. Howe Foundation Fellowship at the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture (University of Manitoba), the Tri-Council Master’s Supplement (University of Manitoba), the Robert Painchaud Memorial Scholarship (University of Winnipeg), and the Burns Entrance Scholarship (University of Manitoba) for their assistance in funding my studies and research. This financial support has made a world of difference. My family and friends have been incredibly supportive over the long course of my graduate studies. My dear friend, Kathryn Boschmann, for your listening ear and helpful suggestions, for pointing me towards useful sources, and for the cheers and commiseration. Many thanks to my parents, Curt and Patty Penner, and my in-laws, Rock Findlater and Rhonda Findlater, for the many delicious meals, babysitting, and cheerleading. The Winnipeg Quaker meeting has provided so much tangible support in the form of meals and spending time with Henry to free up my time to write. I am very glad to belong to this community. Lastly, and especially, no one has helped more than my father-in-law, Rock Findlater. Your countless hours with Henry have opened windows of writing opportunity for me that are so hard to come by while taking care of a baby. I hope that you found as much joy in Henry as he finds in your company. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude and all of my love to my little family. To my partner, Ian: this thesis would not have happened without your support and all the extra work you took on in order to give me time to write. You are amazing in all ways. And our wild child, Henry: I’m sorry I missed out on so many moments with you while I was writing. Please believe that I would have much rather been exploring the world with you. iii To my beloved Opa, Rudy Warkentin, for telling me stories. iv Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................iii Dedication ..............................................................................................................................iv Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................v Introduction: Telling the Past in the Present ..........................................................................1 Chapter 1: Life before Canada: Introducing the Narrators ....................................................23 Chapter 2: “Canada’s not a melting pot but at the same time you have to adjust yourself to this environment”: Multiculturalism and the Canadian Context of the Interviews ...............58 Chapter 3: Being (an Othered) Canadian: The Narrators Respond .......................................97 Chapter 4: “When we moved to Canada there was obviously freedom”: Muslim/Afghan Women in Canadian Discourses and Narrator Stories ...........................................................133 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................163 Appendix: Interviewee Reference List ..................................................................................168 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................170 v Introduction Telling the Past in the Present Several years ago, in 2012, I began interviewing two people from Afghanistan who had resettled in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I did this with little aim, other than to first write a class paper and then as part of my work as a research assistant and project manager for Dr. Alexander Freund’s oral history project focused on refugees.1 I was not sure what I was looking for, but their stories and experiences fascinated me, as did the oral approach to history and the life story technique, both of which I was just learning. I continued to conduct multi-sessional life story oral history interviews with these and several other Afghans until 2015. Over the course of these interviews, now archived at the University of Winnipeg’s Oral History Centre, the narrators told stories about their lives in Afghanistan, interim countries, and Canada, about their families, their experiences, and themselves. Oral historians have long claimed that oral history enables people to present their experiences in an authentic way, lauding the potential of oral history to ‘democratize history’ and assist interviewees, particularly those who are marginalized, to ‘find their voices’.2 However, stories are not simply uncomplicated presentations of past experiences. They not only look backward at the past but also locate the individual in the present. According to British oral historian Mary Chamberlain, narrative structures and meanings are shared, public, and 1 These interviews were conducted as part of a larger project on the history of refugees in Manitoba headed by Alexander Freund at the University of Winnipeg and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC; 2011-2014) and Manitoba Heritage grants (2013-2016). The intent of this project was to create archival sources. I worked on this project as an interviewer and the project manager. 2 Michael
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