Finding Aid for the Kenneth S. Goldstein Collection (MUM00200)

The Kenneth S. Goldstein Collection primarily contains research and audiovisual materials on folk music and folklore from the greater Anglo-Celtic diaspora, as well as materials from various world folk traditions

Vernacular Song, Cultural Identity, and Nationalism in Newfoundland, 1920-1955

Although a force in Newfoundland politics and culture, nationalist sentiment was not strong enough in 1948 to prevent confederation with Canada. The absence among many Newfoundlanders of a strong sense of belonging to an independent country was the underlying reason for Smallwood's referendum victory. Most islanders were descendants of immigrants from either Ireland or the English West Country. Nowadays, they view themselves as Newfoundlanders first and foremost, but it took centuries for that common identity to be forged. How can we gauge when that change from old (European) to new (Newfoundland) identity took place in the outport communities? Vernacular song texts provide one valuable source of evidence. Three collectionsof Newfoundlandsongs-Gerald Doyle's TheOld TimeSongsandPoetry of Newfoundland,Elisabeth Greenleafs Ballads and Sea Songs ji-om Nev.foundland. and Maud Karpeles' Folk Songs from Newfoundland-illuminate the degree to which by the late 1920s a Newfoundland song-culture had replaced earlier cultural traditions. These songs suggest that the island was still a cultural mosaic: some outports were completely Irish, others were English, and in a few ethnically-mixed communities, including St. John's, there was an emergent, home-grown, patriotic song-culture. Cultural nationalism was still a minority tradition in the Newfoundland of 1930

Atlantic Advocate, vol. 51, no. 04 (December 1960)

Range: vol. 47, no. 1 (September 1956) - vol. 82, no. 5 (January 1992) only.Running from September 1952 to January 1992, the Atlantic Advocate published news and other material about Atlantic Canada. By the end of the 1950s it had absorbed both the Atlantic Guardian and the Maritime Advocate and Busy East. (Christine M. Brown, "Atlantic Advocate," Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 1, p. 86.

Vernacular Song, Cultural Identity, and Nationalism in Newfoundland, 1920-1955

Although a force in Newfoundland politics and culture, nationalist sentiment was not strong enough in 1948 to prevent confederation with Canada. The absence among many Newfoundlanders of a strong sense of belonging to an independent country was the underlying reason for Smallwood's referendum victory. Most islanders were descendants of immigrants from either Ireland or the English West Country. Nowadays, they view themselves as Newfoundlanders first and foremost but it took centuries for that common identity to be forged. How can we gauge when that change from old (European) to new (Newfoundland) identity took place in the outport communities? Vernacular song texts provide one valuable source of evidence. Three collections of Newfoundland songs - Gerald Doyle's The Old Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland, Elisabeth Greenleaf's Ballads and Sea Songs from Newfoundland, and Maud Karpeles' Folk Songs from Newfoundland - illuminate the degree to which by the late 1920s a Newfoundland song-culture had replaced earlier cultural traditions. These songs suggest that the island was still a cultural mosaic: some outports were completely Irish, others were English, and in a few ethnically-mixed communities, including St. John's, there was an emergent, home-grown, patriotic song-culture. Cultural nationalism was still a minority tradition in the Newfoundland of 1930