essay

Reconstituting a Lebanese village society in a Canadian city

Arabic speaking communities in American citiesStaten Island, N. Y.Published In 1974 • Pages: 39-52

By: Sweet, Louise Elizabeth.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Based on her field work in rural Lebanon (1964-1965, 1969-1970) and participant observation of a picnic, a community gathering, and a visit among Arab-Canadians at an airport in Edmonton, Alberta, Sweet argues that Lebanese rural customs and etiquette continue to structure the behavior surrounding group encounters in Canada. What she calls 'pre-industrial bonds' survive in the immigrant community to affect social behavior in spite of acculturation. The reason for this, she argues, is because of the corporate individualism and class system of Canada which 'downgrades those without proper Canadian British language, or skills, or education, or economic resources, and so inhibits movement out of the lowest levels of the working class, invites no one to give up his close family and clan life for the industrial alternatives: vagrancy and welfare. (p. 50)'
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
External migration
History and culture change
Status, role, and prestige
Accumulation of wealth
Visiting and hospitality
Etiquette
Community structure
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Arab Canadians
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
1999
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 1998
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1966-1972
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1966-1972
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Edmonton, Alberta
NotesAdditional notes
Louise E. Sweet
Includes bibliographical references (p. 52)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
73088936
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Arabs--Canada