Sketch of the birth of Acadian society
Interpretations of Acadian society are often based on an essentialist view of the nation that situates the foundation of this society in the pre-deportation period before the mid-18th century. This article, by contrast, aims to elucidate the process of Acadian nation building that took shape in the second half of the 19th century starting from a framework of reference developed by Fernand Dumont. A new intellectual elite, formed by the establishment of the first collège classique, then developed new modes of interpretation based on writings from abroad that described and thematized the deportations of the 18th century. It is with the onset of this type of literature, and the publication of the first French language newspaper, that the Acadian people gradually developed a collective sense of history that went beyond family ties and their immediate proximity as well as a common vision of the future. The crystallization of reference points and symbols consolidating a sense of social cohesion and the national character of the Acadians became particularly apparent with their first collective project, the First Acadian Convention.