Face aux nouveaux défis culturels : les Acadiens de Nouvelle-Ecosse

Taking into consideration the intangible cultural heritage holds a central position in the new challenges confronting today's various cultural communities. The author briefly repositions globalization and cultural diversity and shows that, faced with these two basic guidelines, communies' reactions can be radically opposed : acceptance or refusal of the multiculturalism and, in the case of refusal, an essentialist or evolutionary approach. The latter sacrifices heritage for the benefit of trends, supported by new technologies; the first emphasizes the use of an idealised past in what the author identifies as a policy of "folklorisation". Fortunately, some communities accomplish a positive combination and revitalize their heritage through new forms of communication. This is the case of the municipality of Clare in Nova Scotia, the flag-bearer of a growing Acadian identity.