The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity, and Multiculturalism PDF
Preview The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity, and Multiculturalism
Press, 2004. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nyulibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4672162. THE SIKH DIASPORA IN VANCOUVER: THREE GENERATIONS AMID TRADITION, MODERNITY, AND MULTICULTURALISM Canadian Sikhs have seen great changes in their communities, which are primarily concentrated in larger urban centres, especially Vancou- ver and the British Columbia Lower Mainland. In The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver, Kamala Elizabeth Nayar illustrates the transition of Sikh social culture as it moves from small Punjabi villages to a Canadian metropolis. The result of an exhaustive analysis of the beliefs and attitudes among three generations of the Sikh community, the book highlights differences and tensions with regard to familial relations, child rearing, and religion. In exploring these tensions, Nayar focuses particularly on the younger generation, and underlines the role of Sikh youth as a cat- alyst for change within the community. She also examines the Sikh community as it functions and interacts with mainstream Canadian society in the light of modernity and multiculturalism, exploring the change, or lack thereof, in attitudes about the functioning of the com- munity, the role of multicultural organizations and the media, continu- ity in traditional customs, modifications in behaviour patterns, and changes in values. KAMALA ELIZABETH NAYAR is a lecturer in the Department of Sociol- ogy and the Department of Humanities at Kwantlen University College. detail.action?docID=4672162. This page intentionally left blank detail.action?docID=4672162. THE SIKH DIASPORA IN VANCOUVER Three Generations amid Tradition, Modernity, and Multiculturalism Kamala Elizabeth Nayar UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London detail.action?docID=4672162. www.utppublishing.com University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2004 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-8947-X (cloth) ISBN 0-8020-8631-4 (paper) Printed on acid-free paper National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Nayar, Kamala E. (Kamala Elizabeth), 1966- Sikh diaspora in Vancouver : three generations amid tradition, modernity and multiculturalism / Kamala Elizabeth Nayar. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8020-8947-X (bound) 1. Sikh Canadians - British Columbia - Vancouver - Interviews. 2. Sikh Canadians - Cultural assimilation - British Columbia - Vancouver. I. Title. FC3847.9.S55N39 2004 305.8'91412'071133 C2003-905492-6 This volume was published with financial assistance of the BC Foundation for the Study of Sikhism. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publication Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP). detail.action?docID=4672162. For my parents, Baldev Raj and Nancy Ann Nayar detail.action?docID=4672162. This page intentionally left blank detail.action?docID=4672162. Contents Preface xi 1 From Punjabi Villages to a Canadian Metropolis 3 Transition: Between Tradition and Modernity 5 Multiculturalism: Western Culture amid Diversity 10 Identity: Group and Personal 13 Overview of Sikh Migration to Western Canada 15 Aims of the Study 18 Methodology 20 Summary of Chapters 23 2 Communication among Three Generations: Reflections on Orality, Literacy, and Analytics 25 Orality, Literacy, and Analytics 26 The First Generation and Orality 28 The Second Generation and Literacy 33 The Third Generation and Analytics 38 Communication Barriers among the Three Generations 41 Conclusion 44 3 Family Relations among Three Generations: Duty, Role Playing, and Independence, Part 1 46 The Indian Tradition of Duty and Honour 47 The First Generation and Family Duty 48 The Second Generation and Role Playing 58 The Third Generation and Independence 70 Tensions between Punjabi Values and Canadian Lifestyles 78 Modernity and People's Emotional Needs 80 Conclusion 82 detail.action?docID=4672162. viii Contents 4 Family Relations among Three Generations: Duty, Role Playing, and Independence, Part 2 84 Human Development According to Sikh Scripture 85 The First Generation and Its Authoritarian Approach 88 The Second Generation and the Conflict in Its Traditional Approach 92 The Third Generation and Its Double Life 99 Tensions between the Punjabi Household and Western Society 114 The Younger Generation and Psychodrama 116 Conclusion 118 5 Religion among the Three Generations: Oral Transmission of Customs, Reading about the Sikh Tradition, and Inquiry into Sikhism 120 Development of the Sikh Religion 121 The First Generation and Oral Transmission of Customs 128 The Second Generation and Reading about the Tradition 133 The Third Generation and Inquiry into Sikhisrn 141 Identity: Punjabi Culture and Sikh Religion 153 Conclusion 155 6 Community Honour among Three Generations: Social Control, Cultural Preservation, and Ethnic Insularity, Part 1 157 Socio-political Influences on the Development of the Sikh Community in British Columbia 158 The First Generation and Social Control 165 The Second Generation and Cultural Preservation 169 The Third Generation and Ethnic Insularity 176 The Canadian Sikh Community as It Develops outside Its Homeland 181 Conclusion 188 7 Community Honour among Three Generations: Social Control, Cultural Preservation, and Ethnic Insularity, Part 2 189 Multiculturalism and the Punjabi Community 190 The First Generation and 'Little Punjab' 194 The Second Generation and the Punjabi Community 200 The Third Generation and the 'Punjabi Bubble' 208 The Sikh Community as It Relates to Multiculturalism 219 Conclusion 222 detail.action?docID=4672162. Contents ix 8 Conclusion: Canadian Sikhs amid Modernity and Multiculturalism 223 The Inevitable Impact of Modernity on Tradition 223 The Tension between Cultural Preservation and Social Integration 229 Summing Up 233 Notes 235 Glossary 257 Bibliography 263 Index 269 detail.action?docID=4672162.
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