MA Thesis

Supervisor: Dr. Ben Nobbs-Thiessen

Project Title: TBD

Description: This research project will explore how the identities of Low German
Speaking Mennonite (LGSM) communities developed in relation to nationalistic trends in
Canada throughout the long twentieth century. Specifically, the work will analyze how this
socially conservative, isolated group shifted from traditionally pacificist-based responses
to events such as the First and Second World Wars towards associating itself with
nationalistic movements in the post-9/11 world. As a result of this apparent shift, this
project will seek to understand how this group of religious emigres, who had previously
been persecuted for their non-aligned pacifist beliefs, formed a public identity based on
ideologies that were seemingly opposed to many of their stated values. Simultaneously,
they began associating themselves with so-called political outsiders, such as the People’s
Party of Canada. This transformation has been instrumental in altering how LGSMs interact
with dominant groups in society and calls into question the future of their identity. This
research project will also explore how Mennonite groups responded to governmental
demands on education and furthermore, how their collective memory shapes a selfmythology
that reinforces cultural continuity. Specifically, it examines how the rejection of
the Canadian public school system led to the establishment of private Mennonite
education, (e.g. home schooling and Mennonite-run schools), which in turn perpetuate
narratives of Mennonite rightful separation and rejection of “worldliness.” These become
sites where collective memory is constructed, maintained, and reinforced, shaping a selfmythology
that defines Mennonite identity. This project situates these educational choices
within a broader tradition of religious and cultural autonomy.