The tale of Evangeline and the rebuilding of an Acadian identity after the "Grand Derangement"

Résumé du document

In 1847, Henry Longfellow, a well-known American writer published a poem entitled 'Evangéline, a Tale of Acadie', in which he tells a tragic love story of two young Acadians forced to exile during the time of the Deportation. This epic poem of 1400 verses is based on oral tradition and tells the story of Evangéline Bellefontaine and her fiancé Gabriel Lajeunesse. They are separated during the deportation of Grand-Pré in 1755 and the two lovers will have to travel on their own across North America to avoid political tensions between France and England and the constant war between these two nations at this time. Evangéline will try all her life to meet again Gabriel until the day, working as nurse, she sees him in a hospital in his old days, very weak and ill where he dies in her arms. Longfellow was born in 1807 in Maine and became a teacher in 1829 after having graduated from Bourdouin College, Maine. He became a professor in modern languages at Harvard University, a position he quit in 1847 to become a full-time writer. His main source of inspiration is from the story told by two of his friends Nathaniel Hawthorne and Horace Lorenzo Conolly about a young married couple separated by the English and the quest of the bride to find her fiancé all over North America and their reunion at the end of his life. As soon as Longfellow heard this story, he began to write and published Evangeline two years later.

Extraits

[...] The rise of an Acadian nationalism Acadia in the second half of the 19th century has deeply changed comparing to the beginning of the century and in spite of a deep assimilation movement towards English, Acadians can now promote their distinct culture and build specific socialization network among them. Education plays a great role in the protection of Acadian identity. It is important to remind that a collective political awaking occurred in the second half of the 19 th century. Acadians managed to have French speaking leaders elected at the legislative assembly of New Brunswick and at the Canadian parliament. [...]

[...] Few days after him, she dies as well from pain as her life is now pointless. Evangeline character symbolizes fidelity, bravery, patience and piety. These noble qualities are the ones Acadian nationalists will promote at the end of the 19th century trying to unify the Acadian people around cultural and historic references. Evangeline, this brave young fiancée from Grand-Pré will become a source of inspiration for many generations of Acadians and will give them the feeling of being part of a particular nation. [...]

[...] Now as a tourist place and a national historic site, Grand-Pré is a living testimony of the Grand Derangement and of the Acadians‟ story. From an epic poem to a national and identity myth for Acadians, Longfellow‟s Evangeline was the starting point of Acadian cultural and politic awaking in the end of the 19th century. She represents positive values such as bravery, fidelity and eternal trust. These values are the base of the Acadian identity towards their origins, their story and the tough times they had to go throw. Bibliography Longfellow, Henry, Evangeline, A tale of Acadie, Wm. [...]

[...] The tale of Evangeline and the rebuilding of an Acadian identity after the “Grand Derangement” HIST269 Paper: The tale of Evangeline and the rebuilding of an Acadian identity after the “Grand Derangement” James Faed, Evangeline (1863). Estampe Introduction In 1847, Henry Longfellow, a well-known American writer published a poem entitled „Evangéline, a Tale of Acadie‟ in which he tells a tragic love story between two young Acadians forced to exile during the time of the Deportation. This epic poem of 1400 verses is based on oral tradition and tells the story of Evangéline Bellefontaine and her fiancé Gabriel Lajeunesse. [...]

[...] Soon, a ship was named Evangeline in 1854 in the village of Pubnico and quickly Acadian parents started naming their daughters Evangeline. In Nova Scotia, summer parties in Acadian villages organized the election of an Evangeline and a Gabriel to represent the village. Two locomotives of Dominion Atlantic railway company on corridor Annapolis-Grand-Pré were named Evangeline and Gabriel in 1869 at the opening of the route which dragged millions of Canadian and American tourists to Grand-Pré. There, the railway company ordered the building of a statue of Evangeline by two Quebecois sculptors Philippe and Henri Hébert. [...]