Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie

'Remembering and Forgetting in "Acadie" is a highly original and path-breaking book. In his important analysis, Ronald Rudin skilfully interweaves first-person accounts of the 2004-5 anniversaries with both archival and interview-derived evidence.' -- John Reid, Department of History, St Mary's University 'Ronald Rudin's approach to the 2004-5 commemoration is effective and unique, allowing for insights not always revealed from press reports, government documents, or the minutes of committee meetings. Covering a broad range of issues including commemoration, public history, and the experiences of First Nations and Acadians, Remembering and Forgetting in "Acadie" is more than a work of history-in a sense it is like a documentary film where the participants do much of the talking, revealing multiple perspectives to the reader.' -- Greg Marquis, History and Politics, University of New Brunswick Saint John

Conducting interviews and collecting the opinions of Acadians, Anglophones, and First Nations, Rudin examines the variety of ways in which the past is publicly presented and remembered.

Between 2004 and 2005, Acadians observed two major anniversaries in their history: the 400th anniversary of the birth of Acadie and the 250th anniversary of their deportation at the hands of the British. Attending many of the commemorative activities that marked the anniversaries, Ronald Rudin has documented these events as an "embedded historian." Conducting interviews and collecting the opinions of Acadians, Anglophones, and First Nations, Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie examines the variety of ways in which the past is publicly presented and remembered.

A profound and accessible study of the often-conflicting purposes of public history, Rudin details the contentious cultural, political, and historical issues that were prompted by these anniversaries. Offering an astounding collection of materials, Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie is also accompanied by a website (www.rememberingacadie.concordia.ca) that provides access to films, audio clips, and photographs assembled on Rudin's journey through public memory.