Quebec Studies

Rereading Québécois Literature in a Postcolonial Context

Quebec Studies (2003), 35, (1), 31–44.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3828/qs.35.1.31
Language
English
Pages
14

Abstract

31 Rereading Quebecois Literature in a Postcolonial Context Amaryll Chanady Universite de Montreal The title of my paper may seem surprising. Has Quebecois literature not been interpreted very frequently, a t least since the 1960s, in a postcolonial context, if we accept Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tifin's very general definition of postcolonialism as the study of all cultures affected by imperialism (in short, present or former colonies)? If we include within the definition of "postcolonial" the "resistance to colonialism" (or, in other words, anticolonialism), as many critics do, Quebkois critical discourse has very explicitly depicted the francophone province in this way. It has portrayed it as a colony of anglophone Canada and established a parallel between the political, social, economic, and cultural situation of Quebec and other "colonized" societies in the Third World. Whether Quebec really is postcolonial is of course a complex question. How does one define "postcolonial"? In what sense can Quebec be considered postcolonial (as a former French colony, or as a society colonized by anglophone Canada in 1760)? Should one even talk about postcoloniality in the case of a predominantly white settler society which is itself seen as a colonizer by the marginalized native peoples, many of whom do not consider themselves as Quebkois, or even as Canadians? What interests me, however, is not so much postcolonialism as a historical category, but as a discourse that depicts and usually condemns c o b nialism (however it may be defined) in Quebec. And in this sense, a postcolonial reading of Quebecois literature is hardly new, as the following widely-known texts remind us: Andre d'Allemagne's Le colonialisme au QuC bec (1966), Pierre Valli&res'sLes N2gres blancs d'Amirique (1968), Max Dorsinville's Caliban Without Prospero: Essay on Quebec and Black Literature (1974), as well as more recent studies such as Maurice Arguin's Le Roman quibkcois de 1944 d 1965. SymptBmes du colonialisme et signes de libe'ration (1989) and Sylvia Siiderlind's Margin/Alias: Language and Colonization in Canadian and Qukbicois Fiction (1991). Influenced by anticolonial writers from former French colonies in the Caribbean and North Africa (especially Frantz Fanon and Albert Memmi), Quebecois writers and critics of the 1960s such as Hubert Aquin and Pierre Maheu depicted their society as debilitated by AngleCanadian domination, which prevented the emergence of a fullfledged nation. According to Maheu, who explicitly describes the condition of his compatriots as one of colonization (he refers to the "colonis15 quebdcois" [35]), the Quebecois are a "peuple conquis, domine, et presque totalement exclu de la vie economique du pays" (29), whose only refuge is clericalism and traditional values. Would a postcolonial rereading of Quebecois literature thus simply entail a return to a paradigm that is considered by many contemporary Quebecois as outdated? And have more recent Quebecois critics not devel- Quebec Studies, Volume 35, SpringlSummer 2003

Access Token

FormatArticle

£25.00
ReferencesPDF

Ahmad, Aijaz. "Jameson's Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory’". Social Text 17 (1987): 3-25. Jameson's Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory’" Social Text 17 3 25 Google Scholar

Aquin, Hubert. "L'art de la défaite." Blocs erratiques. Montréal: Quinze, 1977. 113-22. Blocs erratiques 113 22 Google Scholar

Arguin, Maurice. Le Roman québécois de 1944 à 1965. Symptômes du colonialisme et signes de libération. Montréal: L'Hexagone, 1989. Le Roman québécois de 1944 à 1965. Symptômes du colonialisme et signes de libération Google Scholar

Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, eds. The Empire Writes Back. Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures. London and NY: Routledge, 1989. The Empire Writes Back. Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures Google Scholar

Bessette, Gérard. Une littérature en ébullition. Montréal: Éditions du jour, 1968. Une littérature en ébullition Google Scholar

Bhabha, Homi. "Dissemination: Time, Narrative, and the Margins of the Modern Nation." Nation and Narrration. 291-322. Dissemination: Time, Narrative, and the Margins of the Modern Nation Nation and Narrration 291 322 Google Scholar

Bouchard, Gérard. Genèse des nations et cultures du Nouveau Monde. Essai d'histoire comparée. Montréal: Boréal, 2001. Genèse des nations et cultures du Nouveau Monde. Essai d'histoire comparée Google Scholar

Chow, Rey. Writing Diaspora: Tactics of Intervention in Contemporary Cultural Studies. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1993. Writing Diaspora: Tactics of Intervention in Contemporary Cultural Studies Google Scholar

D'Allemagne, André. Le colonialisme au Québec. Montréal: Les éditions RB, 1966. Le colonialisme au Québec Google Scholar

Dirlik, Arif. "The Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism in the Age of Global Capitalism." Critical Inquiry 20 (1994): 328-56. The Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism in the Age of Global Capitalism Critical Inquiry 20 328 56 Google Scholar

Dorsinville, Max. Caliban Without Prospero: Essay on Quebec and Black Literature. Erin, Ontario: Presse Porcépic, 1974. Caliban Without Prospero: Essay on Quebec and Black Literature Google Scholar

Kuper, Adam. The Invention of Primitive Society: Transformations of an Illusion. London: Routledge, 1988. The Invention of Primitive Society: Transformations of an Illusion Google Scholar

Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Tristes tropiques. Paris: Plon, 1955. Tristes tropiques Google Scholar

Maheu, Pierre. "L'Œdipe colonial." Un parti pris révolutionnaire. Montréal: Éditions parti pris, 1983. 27-39. Un parti pris révolutionnaire 27 39 Google Scholar

Major, Robert. "Greimas et Thériault." Voix et Images 23.1 (1997): 169-73. Greimas et Thériault Voix et Images 23 169 73 Google Scholar

Mukherjee, Arun. "Whose Post-Colonialism and Whose Postmodernism?" World Literature Written in English 30. 2 (1990): 1-9. Whose Post-Colonialism and Whose Postmodernism? World Literature Written in English 30 1 9 Google Scholar

Perron, Paul. "Théorie actantielle et processus idéologique. Agaguk d'Yves Thériault." Voix et Images 4.2 (1978): 272-99 Théorie actantielle et processus idéologique. Agaguk d'Yves Thériault Voix et Images 4 272 99 Google Scholar

Prakash, Gyan. "Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World: Perspectives from Indian Historiography." Comparative Studies in Society and History 32 (1990): 383-108. Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World: Perspectives from Indian Historiography Comparative Studies in Society and History 32 383 108 Google Scholar

Siemerling, Winfried. "Rereading the Nation: Cultural Difference, Transculture, and Literary History in Canada and Quebec." REAL Yearbook of Research in English and American Literature 14: Literature and the Nation. Ed. Brook Thomas. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, (1998): 183-204. REAL Yearbook of Research in English and American Literature 14: Literature and the Nation 183 204 Google Scholar

Söderlind, Sylvia. Margin/Alias: Language and Colonization in Canadian and Québécois Fiction. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1991. Margin/Alias: Language and Colonization in Canadian and Québécois Fiction Google Scholar

Spivak, Gayatri. "Can the Subaltern Speak?" Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Basingstroke: Macmillan, 1988. 271-313. Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture 271 313 Google Scholar

Talbot, Emile J. "Thériault's Agaguk: The Matter of Closure." Quebec Studies 4 (1986): 126-34. Thériault's Agaguk: The Matter of Closure Quebec Studies 4 126 34 Google Scholar

Thériault, Yves. Agaguk. Roman esquimau. 1958. Montréal: Les Éditions de l'homme, 1961. Agaguk. Roman esquimau Google Scholar

Thérien, Gilles. "L'Indien imaginaire: une hypothèse." Recherches amérindiennes au Québec 17.3 (1987): 3-21. L'Indien imaginaire: une hypothèse Recherches amérindiennes au Québec 17 3 21 Google Scholar

Todorov, Tzvetan. La Conquěte de l'Amérique, la question de l'autre. Paris: Seuil, 1982. La Conquěte de l'Amérique, la question de l'autre Google Scholar

Trinh T. Minh-ha. Woman, Native, Other. Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism. Bloomington and London, Indiana UP, 1989. Woman, Native, Other. Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism Google Scholar

Vallières, Pierre. Nègres blancs d'Amérique. Montréal: parti pris, 1969. Nègres blancs d'Amérique Google Scholar

If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Details

Author details

Chanady, Amaryll