A bridge to nowhere : temporalities of abandonment in rural Canada / Donna Young.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Young, Donna Jean, 1956- author.

Series:

Anthropological horizons

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poverty--Canada.

Poverty.

Poor men--Canada.

Poor men.

Poor women--Canada.

Poor women.

Precarious employment--Canada.

Precarious employment.

Ethnology--Canada.

Ethnology.

Canada--Rural conditions.

Canada.

Physical Description:

ix, 178 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Artfully written and meticulously crafted, A Bridge to Nowhere explores the lives of men and women in isolated settlements across Canada, examining how their experiences are shaped by memory, precarity, and poverty. Following men abandoned at remote rail sidings in western Canada and women left in rural settlements in northern New Brunswick, Donna Young presents a powerful and unflinching Canadian story that critically analyses how poverty is represented in anthropological studies. Based on research conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, this innovative ethnography centres each chapter on a specific place or individual, developing an analysis anchored in memory and relationality. Young deftly connects the precariousness of these communities to the extraction of primary resources in the twentieth century, while also addressing the gendered spaces and labour conditions that define their lives. In navigating the complex and often contradictory forces at play, the book engages with a storied loneliness set against rural landscapes and regional sensibilities. Weaving together social history, memory studies, and the anthropology of performance, A Bridge to Nowhere honours the emotional and social structures embedded in the landscape, capturing the intensity of precarious living."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: A Bridge to Nowhere

So, where to begin...

The Evanescent Freedoms of Life on a CPR Rail Gang

So, a journey to northern New Brunswick with Babette...

The Family Gothic

So, elderly Filles de Jésus remember building a convent school...

Clothing of Piety, Clothing of Poverty: Object Lessons and the Poverty Narratives of women

So, Babette's grandmother tells me she has a lonely nature...

Landscapes of Memory and a Lonely Nature

So, Babette invites family and friends to a party...

Unravelling.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Young, Donna Jean, 1956- Bridge to nowhere.

ISBN:

9781487564469

1487564465

9781487564476

1487564473

OCLC:

1490364922

Publisher Number:

90104535154