This thesis describes and analyzes the context and the evolution of the Quebec literary essay between 1970 and 1990. It is supported by a body of texts which, in our opinion, reflect the structure of contemporary essayistic discourse in Quebec. / By studying three dimensions of the Quebec essay--the socio-political, the personal and the feminist--we will attempt to understand and interpret the various modes through which the essayistic "I" deals with its cultural and ideological contexts. Beyond this principal goal, we offer an account of recent studies on the definition of the literary essay. / This vast panorama of Quebec essay is accompanied, in the second part of this work, by the bibliography of texts published during the last two decades. In order to facilitate a clearer assessment of the development of the "genre" in question, we have appended a chronological listing of these texts.

This study is inspired by social discourse theory and sociocriticism of literature. it aims to describe an organizational system that informs theatre practice in Quebec and to go beyond aesthetic form, critical interpretation and institutional structure to reveal Quebecois theatre in its most synthesized form. / To comprehend the model's overall operation, three broad sectors of the theatre's sphere of activity were explored and juxtaposed: institution, reception and creation. For this purpose, a preliminary set of quantitative and discursive data was assembled from a study of the network of professional schools, associations, and festivals in the theatrical milieu. Following this, examination of a number of scholarly texts made it possible to observe the way in which these elements are linked together into a more comprehensive ideological structure, while analysis of a representative body of contemporary (1945--1990) Quebecois plays served to consolidate and refine these observations. / The central thesis of this work is that, at the level of the representation of the "world", there are a series of characteristics that may be thought of as the distinctive elements of Quebecois drama. In general, Quebecois theatre feeds off the denial of the theatrical in order to present itself to the spectator as a site of an impossible theatricality. This dynamic inscribes itself in sociocultural representation in general, and is perceived both in the spatio-temporal dimension of the play, and in the structure of dramatic character and dramatic conflict.

The following Master's thesis is proposing the analysis of five novels, written between 1988 and 1993, by five young Quebec writers. The object of this research is to study the representation of "generation X" in these five texts. The introduction of the thesis establishes the parameters of the "generation X", which comprises people born between 1959 and 1974. This definition constitutes the basis of our comparison between the concept of "generation X" and the main characters of the novels, who are "fictive" members of this generation. / The rest of the thesis includes three chapters, devoted to the following themes: the politic perception of young characters, their economic situation and their attitude toward society. Necessarily, our analysis also considers the difference of perception between "baby-boomers" (people born between 1944 and 1959) and "generation X". This comparison is essential because "generation X" defines itself in opposition with adults values and institutions: reject of political power and authority, reject of work, instruction and money, refusal to integrate society. / The main purpose of this analysis is to see how the present Quebec novel integrates, assimilates and thinks the socio-historic context where it takes place, and how it could possibly renew the forms and the style of Quebec novel in general.

In 1892, in one of his characteristic attacks, Arthur Buies denounced the "deplorable" style of certain young French-Canadian writers of the day. The "jeunes barbares", as he called them, published in small magazines such as Le Recueil litteraire and L'Echo des jeunes, and were strongly influenced by French fin-de-siecle writing (the decadent and Symbolist schools in particular). The creation of the Ecole litteraire de Montreal in 1895 can be seen as a continuation of these varied literary endeavours. Quite aware of the criticisms leveled at young writers by Buies and others, the members of the Ecole viewed their association as both a literary circle and a training ground. The Bulletin du parler francais au Canada , founded in 1902, approached the issue of the poor quality of spoken and written French in French Canada from a more philological angle. It was in the Bulletin... that Camille Roy published his articles on French-Canadian literary history and his famous conference on the nationalisation of French-Canadian literature (in 1904--1905). This text was to have an influence so far-reaching that the Ecole litteraire de Montreal, in its second incarnation, espoused---albeit with some reticence---certain of the "pre-regionalist" values it promoted. The texts published in the Ecole's magazine, Le Terroir (1909), clearly indicate this. / This thesis analyses the diverse modernist and pre-regionalist discourses present from 1889 to 1909, taking into particular account the variations in their antagonism (which manifested itself in a number of short-lived quarrels), with a view to providing a more complete and nuanced picture of the period than previous studies have done; it explores, in the process, the less well-known antecedents to the period which was to follow, a period during which the opposition between the regionalists and the "exotiques" came to a head.

No description available.

During the sixties decade, the literature of Quebec is marked by the emergence of the works of women writers who give precedence to the female protagonist. Thus, contrary to her counterpart prior to 1960, the fictitious woman of the sixties is no longer relegated to the background of the novel. This image of the female as a principal character around whom all the elements of the narrative unfold is new to our literature. Our writers seem to desire, consciously or not, to create heroines who are more than mere props for their husbands or their children. Furthermore, these heroines are portrayed as rarely having access to happiness. Indeed, more often than not, they are described as unhappy. Their distress seems to spring from the fact that their family and their milieu persist in defining them, symbolically or concretely, as inferior beings. Their world is a masculine one governed by patriarchal law. Our authors take great care in showing us that it is this law that transforms many of their female characters into figures who tend to submit to the prevalent attitudes and mores of their time. / These heroines lead repetitively dismal and somber lives. From one narrative to the next, the central character expresses feelings of unworthiness, of hatred of self and of others that often culminates in mental instability. Concurrently, certain protagonists are shown to rebel against traditional female roles. In doing so, they illustrate a new kind of character in our literature. One does not find in these works the representation of the following myths: the good mother, the faithful wife, the submissive daughter, the inconsolable widow, the charitable nun. / The new depictions of the female protagonist have a great symbolic value for they show that women authors of the sixties repudiate old models and elaborate an image of the heroine that is absolutely novel to our fiction. Indeed, in recognizing their condition of servitude and in breaking the traditional mould, these characters illustrate a freedom never before accorded to women in our literature. This transformation of the female character as detailed in these works foreshadows the writings authored by Quebecois women in the following decades.

<p> This dissertation presents a collection of personal stories collected by the author from the lobster fishermen of Meteghan, Nova Scotia. This corpus is not a complete inventory, but it helps us to begin to understand the evolution of this Acadian village. The author wondered: Since fairy tales no longer exist in their current repertoire, why not give value to the life histories that exist? This research required an observational transformation in order to notice, preserve and present the treasure that is the oral tradition in this region.</p><p> The author presents the fishermen's stories based on the concept of the <i> ethnotexte,</i> generating the sense of a written discussion between all the participants. The author uses a minimal level of interpretation of her own, allowing the voices of the informants to shine. This allows the text to be more faithful to the experience, since without sound, there is already a deviation of a natural phenomenon, the performance. The protocol used for the transcripts balances between the fidelity of the recordings and the text's accessibility, while preserving the maritime vocabulary and archaic words. </p><p> The author presents eleven themes, ranging from old fishing techniques, to tricks and superstitions. Since fishing is the main industry in this francophone minority community, the author reveals the cultural importance found within the stories, like the testimonies of the old ways of living and fears for the future, which represent a poetic mix between tradition and modernity. </p><p> Having conducted extensive field work, the author concludes that Acadian folklore in the area is not threatened, but has instead evolved. The author has succeeded in letting these fishermen speak, which helps to illuminate the enigma of the modern Acadian identity. Although subject to the imposed imperatives of modernity, Acadians are pragmatic, and at the end of the day, they honor family and the stability of the village first.</p><p> This is a region rich in heritage. The importance of ethnology seeks not to find solutions but to preserve this information. With a sense of urgency to capture the oral histories, this kind of research enriches this community's culture.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 348-368). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2009. Program in Romance Languages and Literatures. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-63).

abstract: Michel Tremblay, one of the most renowned and beloved Quebecois writers, began his literary career in the 1960s. He is well known for writing many of his works exclusively in the Quebec dialect of joual. The history of Quebec, from its beginnings as a permanent settlement of New France, to its subsequent takeover by the British after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, all were events that set the stage for the Quiet Revolution. The Quiet Revolution was a cultural, social and linguistic uprising set in motion by the French-speakers of Quebec who were tired of being dominated. Up until the 1960s, the majority of literary works produced in Quebec followed the classical French tradition. The desire in the 1960s to break free from the domination of the English language and culture as well as to be differentiated from the French from France brought with it a newfound nationalistic pride. From this point forward there was a push to create a distinct Quebecois literature. One way to differentiate the works of Quebec from those from France was to include characters and settings from within the Quebec society as well as to have those characters speak in their native dialect. Joual, a dialect version of the pronunciation of the French word cheval, meaning horse, was originally a rural dialect that eventually found its way to the inner city. For this reason, joual was most closely identified with the urban working-class of Montreal. This dialect was also perceived as the language of an uneducated, socially and economically inferior segment of the French-speaking Quebec society. By using joual in his literature, Tremblay was able to depict the social, cultural and economic effect that joual had on this element of Quebec's population. This thesis focuses on the impact of joual on this society through the study of two of Tremblay's plays: Les Belles-soeurs (1965), to show a women's perspective about a socially and economically inferior group, and Hosanna (1973), to show the perspective of homosexuals and transvestites, a socially prejudiced group. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. French 2012