Canada and Anne of Green Gables

Redlass · #1 12-20-2001, 07:17 PM

I'm reading "Anne of Green Gables" and "Anne of Avonlea" for the first time (yes, I know, I'm really slow to get to a lot of very good juvenile novels) and I realize I'm missing an important bit of cultural knowledge.

There are a lot of references to "the French" as a serving class and when they speak, it is usually with a dialect that doesn't strike me as being French at all (though, I don't know any French, so it could simply be my ignorance).

Who are these French? Are they immigrants from France who are someone unable to find any jobs other than as household servants and farm help? Or is this another reference that I'm simply missing.

Dani257 · #2 12-20-2001, 08:20 PM

Goody, a new Anne reader! I don't have the books in front of me, but maybe the dialect is Canadian French?

**pageclot**[$] · #3 12-21-2001, 09:09 AM

Prince Edward Island, where Anne of Green Gables is set, was originally a French possession (called Isle St. Jean), given to the British in 1763. The original colony of 700 French people (started in 1719) was increased by a bunch of Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia in 1755 (which may have given rise to the odd French spoken in Anne of Green Gables).

There is still a sizable French contingent among the population of Prince Edward Island. 20% are of French descent, and 5% actually speak French as a primary language.

The French colonials lost their rights to ownership of the land in 1766, when Captain Holland sliced up the island into 67 parcels, which were distributed to landowners in England, setting up property disputes that took until the 1970's to definitively settle.

p

sylvanb · #4 12-21-2001, 10:35 AM

A wave of expelled Acadians migrated to Louisiana, hence "Cajuns" and one source of the French influence on LA music, language, etc. For a romanticized account, see Longfellow's Evangeline.

Fascinating stuff....

Redlass · #5 12-22-2001, 01:38 PM

Cool! Thanks for all the info. It's obviously something I should read more about.

I should also read more about the Arcadians. There was a time when my husband wanted to name any daughter we had Arcadia.