H-Canada hit the 300+ subscriber mark the other day and the editors decided
that it was time for people to introduce themselves. While writing my
introduction for H-Canada, I realized that I had never sent one to
H-Albion, even though I have been a subscriber for ages and taken part in
the discussion every now and then. So here it goes...
My name is Pasi Ahonen, and I am a PhD student in history at the University
of Victoria as well as a Research Fellow with the Academy of Finland.
Presently, I am getting started with my dissertation research. The title
changes weekly, but last time I formulated it, it went something like this:
"The "Oriental Menace" and Discourses of Whiteness and Masculinity in
British Columbia in the 1920s". All the key words at least are there,
although not necessarily in the form or the order I would like them to be.
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*The reason I am subscribing to H-Albion is that I am looking at the *
*situation in BC in the context of the British empire and the discourses of *
*imperialism/colonialism of the turn of the century/early 20th century. *
* *
*Any comments re the above and below are welcome! Also, I would like to *
*contact with people who are trying to make sense of masculinity/whiteness/ *
*gender/racialization. *
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Recently, I have also started to develop a related side-project. In that
project I will concentrate on the history of racialization of the Finns,
how the Finnish immigrants were racialized in the particular conditions of
early 20th century British Columbia, and how those conditions reassigned
the 'race' of the Finns.
Canadian history, however, is a recent phenomenon for me. I am a Southern
U. S. historian by training. My Licenciate of Philosophy dissertation for
the Institute of Cultural History at the University of Turku (Finland)
carries the title "Myyttej, satiiria ja miehenkuvia: H. L. Menckenin
Yhdysvaltojen etelkohdistama kulttuurikritiikki ja sen vlittt
mieheysksitykset 1917-1935" and it translates unwillingly to something
like "Myths, Satire, and Manly Images: H. L. Mencken's Cultural Criticism
on the United States South and Its Masculine Imagery, 1917-1935." Also my
Candidate of Philosophy (ie. MA) thesis was on Mencken and the South.
Best,
Pasi Ahonen, Dept of History, Univ of Victoria
pahonene@uvaix.uvic.ca
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