World Acadian Congresses
This article analyses the relation between the notions of territory and identity as they present themselves in discourses produced during the Congrès mondiaux acadiens (CMA or World Acadian Congresses). The CMAs, we argue, are emblematic of a process of “alter-territorialization,” territorializing identities other than through formal administrative borders. The territory, as defined by nationalist discourse during the CMA, is perceived primarily as the place where a process of community representation both possible, and constantly revised and remodelled through deliberation, collective action, commemoration, and socio-cultural movements that seek to direct it. In this way, the CMA plays a unique role in crystallizing a representation of Acadie that is both diasporic and situated. In this article, we focus mainly on the 2019 CMA. In addition to ethnographic fieldwork carried out during the various activities the 2019 CMA, we draw on the informational and promotional material produced by the CMA organizing committee. We also use data from a media analysis, a survey (N= 191) and semi-structured interviews (N=30). Territory and identity are central themes in each of these types of sources, to which we apply critical analysis in order to better understand the “Acadian territorial complex”.