Talking About Difference : Encounters in Culture, Language, and Identity

For people who are not part of Canada's "dominant culture," everyday life in this country can be a painful and frustrating--as well as often joyous--experience. In Talking About Difference, Canadians from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds--Aboriginal, African, Jewish, East European, and Asian--present their impressions of what it's like to grow up in, immigrate to, or work in Canada. Their personal stories illuminate the complex ways in which culture, race, class, and identity find expression in our daily lives.

The stories, variously warm and harsh, humorous and thought-provoking, and always engaging, deal with the everyday questions of who is really Canadian; of growing up and living in more than one culture; of stereotyping; and of confronting racism. The range of experiences and of styles--essays, letters, personal narratives, and journalistic articles--offers an entertaining and instructive glimpse of life in a country with a rapidly changing and vibrant population mix.

Carl James teaches in the Faculty of Education at York University and Adrienne Shadd is a writer and editor living in Toronto.