La construction identitaire des jeunes francophones en situation minoritaire au Canada: Négociation des frontières linguistiques au fil du parcours universitaire et de la mobilité géographique

Abstract

This article focuses on the identity construction process of Francophone university students who are evolving in a Canadian minority context and who previously attended a French High School. The approach used is constructivist and centered on the ways youths react to different existing identity categories. The analysis of identity pathways experienced by youths throughout their university studies allow us to observe that the majority of our respondents (64 over 76) chooses categories that oppose minority Francophones to two majorities: Francophones Québécois and English Canadians. Only 12 respondents seem to have a plural conception of identity, a conception that calls into question the dichotomous boundaries between these groups. The majority of identity narratives analyzed point to a sense of communalization, more specifically a sense of belonging to a Francophone minority. Our research results pertaining to young adults puts in perspective previous research that have underlined the bilingual identities of teenagers who evolve in a Francophone minority context. © Canadian Journal of Sociology.