Littérature québécoise / Québec Literature

The study of Quebec’s literature is an excellent introduction to a unique North American French context in which both French and English cultures converge. Since its beginnings, Quebec’s literature has participated in the important stages of North American development. The course will start with the first written productions of the Explorers, and continue by highlighting periods of the literary history to follow. The 19th century, which saw the birth of the French-Canadian novel, was primarily marked by the Catholic ideology of political resistance which had a notable impact on every form of literary genres. The 20th century ushered Quebec’s literature into a modernity similar to those in which other Occidental countries had already been experimenting. Finally, this course will analyze Quebec’s literature in the 21st century, and the impacts of globalization on the different literary stakes, on both the individual and collective levels. Throughout its history, Quebec’s literature has been the privileged witness to the evolution of a Francophone culture that succeeded in maintaining its oral and written identity in the predominately Anglophone context of North America.