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Meaning-making of historical episodes by the Punjabi-Sikh youth in Vancouver

University of British Columbia

This thesis explores the ways in which the youth from the Punjabi-Sikh community in Vancouver, Canada relate to three historical episodes associated with the community, namely, ‘Events of 1984’(The Indian Army’s 1984 attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, as well as, the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, India), ‘Events of 1985’ (The Air India bombings) and the Komagata Maru episode of 1914. Exploring the youth narratives and non-narratives on these violent episodes intrinsically connected with the Sikh diasporic community in Canada, provides for an analysis of the meaning-making processes that the youth engage with to make sense of these episodes. By emphasizing on how the youth remember, what they remember (and what they forget), I draw attention to linkages between these processes of recall and the present day realities of the youth. By juxtaposing the dominant narratives on the episodes with the youth narratives, the research also explores the relationship of these ‘grand’ narratives with the personal narratives of the youth, the space and reception of the contending forms of remembrances of these violent histories, and its effect on present day politics.

Text

2014-11-19

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/51129

Geography

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/