Class, ethnicity and residential structure: the social geography of Winnipeg, 1901–1921

Hiebert, Daniel

doi:10.1016/0305-7488(91)90005-g

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Arguably, if "[i]dentity freezes the gesture of thinking," (De Certeau, 1986, p. 194; emphasis added) then it is correct to say that a 'North' identity substantiates the feelings, experiences and bodily sensations that Canadians-and Winnipeggers, more specifically-undergo when they immerse themselves in the environments (both the urban and the frontier) that pervade Canadian cinema. Winnipeg's North End neighbourhood is a clear example of such environments, as for outside observers, the North End of Winnipeg is "Canada's quintessential land of despair, where the seedy bars of the North Main street empty into an area of poor-quality housing, low educational attainment, high unemployment, and visible poverty" (Hiebert, 1992, p. 92; see also Rowley, 1978;Hiebert, 1991;Lehr and Zubrycki, 2012).…”

Section: A 'City Place' and A 'Cold Climate': Winnipeg And The 'Northmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘Frozen’ Heart of the Continent: Place-Myths and Winnipeg in Canadian Crime Films

Gacek

Kohm

2016

CGJSC-RCESSC

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Within Canadian national cinema, audiences view places that draw attention to the shared experience of being within these geopolitical, socio-spatial locations. This paper contends that crime films set in Winnipeg, a city situated in the centre of North America, reflect and contribute to the cultural identity of the city within the national imaginary. Place-myths have the potential to construct meanings about a particular place, indicating whether it is romantic or dangerous, progressive or "backward," vibrant or decaying. While currently branded by local civic boosters as the 'Heart of the Continent, ' (Kives, 2008) the construction of Winnipeg-asplace on film tells a different tale. By implementing a qualitative media analysis, we argue that place-myths manifest themselves within Canadian crime film narratives, and that a better understanding of place allows us to observe how Winnipeg becomes socially spatialized onscreen. As our paper suggests, one's sense of space can only constellate when one's experiences of being and acting within a place is taken into account. Winnipeg ultimately becomes represented on film as a place where crime is rampant and law enforcement is unable to combat the criminal behaviour within the city-in other words, where law and justice is 'frozen.' Keywords: Place-myths; crime; film; space; Winnipeg Dans le cinéma national canadien, les auditoires vont associer les lieux avec leur propre expérience de ces emplacements géopolitiques et de leur espace social. Cet article soutient que les films policiers qui se déroulent à Winnipeg, une ville située au centre de l'Amérique du Nord, reflètent et contribuent à forger l'identité culturelle de la ville au sein de l'imaginaire national. Les mythes liés aux endroits ont le potentiel de construire des significations autour d'un lieu spécifique, indiquant si cet espace est romantique ou dangereux, progressif ou « rétrograde », animé ou déserté. Même si des représentants de Winnipeg vont qualifier la ville de « coeur du continent » (Kives, 2008), sa construction imaginaire au cinéma raconte une autre histoire. Par la mise en oeuvre d'une analyse qualitative des médias, nous soutenons que les mythes des lieux se manifestent dans les trames narratives des films policiers canadiens, et qu'une meilleure compréhension des lieux nous permet de constater comment l'espace social de Winnipeg a été présenté à l'écran. Comme notre article le suggère, notre perception de l'espace ne peut s'exprimer pleinement que si nous expérimentons concrètement et agissons dans celui-ci. Winnipeg devient finalement représenté au cinéma comme un endroit où le crime est à la hausse et les organismes d'application de la loi incapables de combattre les comportements criminels dans la ville -en d'autres mots, où la loi et la justice sont « immobiles ».

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Section: A 'City Place' and A 'Cold Climate': Winnipeg And The 'Northmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘Frozen’ Heart of the Continent: Place-Myths and Winnipeg in Canadian Crime Films

Gacek

Kohm

2016

CGJSC-RCESSC

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“…In contrast, Zunz (1982) reported that Detroit was already strongly segregated along ethnic lines, and, as automobile manufacturing transformed the city, ethnic segregation gradually gave way to income segregation by the first quarter of the 20th century as a new class consciousness permeated the multiethnic city (Zunz, 1982). As for Canada, Hiebert (1991) noted that Winnipeg experienced a dramatic increase of ethnic segregation during the first quarter of the 20th century, while class-based residential segregation remained stable; in fact, growing ethnic identification and ethnic segregation may have accelerated the emergence of class consciousness.…”

Section: Assessing Segregation In the 19th-century Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential Segregation in the Industrializing City: A Closer Look

Gilliland

Olson

2010

Urban Geography

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This article maps and measures several dimensions of residential segregation in Montreal in 1881, thereby adding to our understanding of the social structure of the industrial city. Taking advantage of an unusual historical database-a historical geographic information system (H-GIS)-we locate 17,000 individual households with precision, and evaluate the "dissimilarity" of neighborhoods along several social dimensions and at various levels of spatial aggregation. The empirical findings suggest that Montreal was highly segregated along lines of ethnic identity as well as socioeconomic status; segregation values increased inversely with size of the spatial unit, but precision of unit boundaries have negligible effect. Coupling the highprecision GIS with a statistical model such as the classic index of dissimilarity lends new power to grasp the scale of phenomena, to inquire into behavioral choices of 19th-century households, and even to challenge our assumptions about the meaning of "segregation" or "integration."

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The social geography of Toronto in 1931: A study of residential differentiation and social structure

Hiebert

1995

Journal of Historical Geography

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Class, ethnicity and residential structure: the social geography of Winnipeg, 1901–1921

Cited by 11 publications

References 32 publications

The ‘Frozen’ Heart of the Continent: Place-Myths and Winnipeg in Canadian Crime Films

The ‘Frozen’ Heart of the Continent: Place-Myths and Winnipeg in Canadian Crime Films

Residential Segregation in the Industrializing City: A Closer Look

The social geography of Toronto in 1931: A study of residential differentiation and social structure

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