ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. Third part of the book illustrates the value of trans disciplinary approaches to the study of migration, language and identity. It combines historical and demographic detail with ethnographic, sociolinguistic and textual insights from recent research. The book then introduces the specific migration history of those in each local population—those from Japan who settled in the states of São Paulo and Paraná, those from Ukraine who settled in the municipality of Prudentópolis, Paraná and those from the Middle East who settled in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná. It also examines how the borderlands of southern Brazil were 'colonized', from the 19th century onwards, by means of politically planned settlement projects. The book explores how some groups acquired land for cultivation and specialized in agriculture, while others moved into the commercial sector in urban areas.
