Jeff Webb's
Observing the Outports:Describing Newfoundland Culture, 1950-80 considers "Newfoundland studies:" how scholars in and around St. John's in the mid to late 20th century or so re-invented their home island as a subject of academic study... and tied in to the Newfoundland cultural explosion that was erupting around them.
"It was as if, having relinquished the path toward being a nation-state, Newfoundland-born intellectuals now wanted to preserve something of the national ethos. For others, the island provided a virtual laboratory to study a traditional culture."
And then there is the happy accident that some terrific historians found a wealth of unconsidered historical materials and produced a lot of excellent history from it.
