Quebec literature

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Quebec literature
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This is an article about literature in Quebec.
16th and 17th centuries
During this period, the society of New France was being built with great difficulty. The French merchants contracted
to transport colonists did not respect their end of the bargain, and the French and their Indian allies were at war with
the Iroquois, allied to the English until 1701, etc. To add to these difficulties, the printing press was officially
forbidden in Canada until the British Conquest.
In spite of this, some notable documents were produced in the early days of colonization and were passed down from
generation to generation until today. The Voyage of Jacques Cartier, the Muses de la Nouvelle-France of Marc
Lescarbot, the Voyages of Samuel de Champlain are memories of the exploration of North America and the
foundation of New France.
The Relations des jsuites, Le Grand voyage au pays des Hurons of Gabriel Sagard, the crits of Marguerite
Bourgeois were written by the many religious founders of New France who had undertaken the task of converting
the Sauvages to Christianity.
Many songs and poems were transmitted orally by the early French settlers. A popular French ballad, la claire
fontaine was adapted by the voyageurs and gave us the version that is known today in Quebec.
The first patriotic song of Quebec (then known as le Canada) was written by a soldier, Franois Mariauchau d'Esgly.
Entitled C'est le Gnral de Flip, it paid tribute to the resistance of the French at Quebec during the siege of General
William Phips in 1690.
In France, Canada and New France in general caught the interest of many writers, notably Franois Rabelais who
refers to Cartier and Roberval in Pantagruel.
18th century
Until 1760, the themes of nature, explorations, and the Sauvages continued to mark the imagination of the
civilization of New France. The Moeurs des sauvages amricains of Joseph-Franois Lafitau, Histoire de l'Amrique
septentrionale of Bacqueville de la Potherie and the Histoire et description gnrale de la Nouvelle-France are in
continuity with the writings of the preceding century.
The first verified use of the term Canadien to designate the descendants of French settlers in Canada was written in a
song composed in 1756 in honor of Governor Vaudreuil after the military victory of Fort Chouaguen. In 1758,
tienne Marchand wrote a famous poem in Le carillon de la Nouvelle-France. This song tells the story of the
victorious battle of Fort Carillon.
The first poem written by a Canadien after the cession of Canada to Great Britain is Quand Georges trois pris
l'Canada written by an anonymous author in 1763.
The Quebec Gazette newspaper was founded in Quebec City by William Brown on June 21, 1764. The bilingual
paper was published in both the French language and the English language and over the years survived to be the
oldest newspaper still publishing in North America.
The literary trends of Europe and the rest of America slowly penetrated the cities, primarily Quebec City and
Montreal. The writings of the Enlightenment and those produced at the time of the American and French revolutions
were dominant in the available literature.
Valentin Jautard and Fleury Mesplet published the first journal of Quebec, the Gazette du commerce et littraire, in
177879. Valentin Jautard, a disciple of Voltaire and sympathizer with the American cause, published many poems
under different pseudonyms.
Some notable names of the time are Joseph-Octave Plessis, Ross Cuthbert, Joseph Quesnel and Pierre de Sales
Laterrire.
Quebec literature
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In France, Voltaire wrote L'Ingnu, the tale of a Huron who visits France and also Chateaubriand, a French noble
exiled in America, wrote Atala and Ren.
19th century
The 19th century marks the beginning of the first real literary works published by Quebecers, including Michel
Bibaud, Pierre Boucher de Boucherville, Franois Ral Angers, Philippe Aubert de Gasp (son), Amde Papineau,
Joseph Doutre, Franois-Xavier Garneau, Pierre Jean Olivier Chauveau, Louis-Antoine Dessaulles, H.-mile
Chevalier.
By 1860s, Quebec authors were able to acquire a certain autonomy. It was now easier to publish a book and
mass-produce it.
Antoine Grin-Lajoie, Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gasp, Louis Frchette, Arthur Buies, William Kirby, Honor
Beaugrand, Laure Conan, Edith Maude Eaton, William Chapman, Jules-Paul Tardivel, Winnifred Eaton, Pamphile
Lemay were some of the key writers in this era.
An anonymous song, Les Raftsmen, became popular at the beginning of this century.
20th century
Hubert Aquin
Nick Auf der Maur
Victor Barbeau
Yves Beauchemin
Victor-Lvy Beaulieu
Marie-Claire Blais
Denise Bombardier
Paul-mile Borduas
Jacques Brault
Roch Carrier
Leonard Cohen
Rjean Ducharme
Fernand Dumont
Esther Delisle
Louis Emond
Jacques Ferron
Michel Garneau
Susan Glickman
Jacques Godbout
Heward Grafftey
Lionel Groulx
Germaine Guvremont
Jean-Charles Harvey
Anne Hbert
Louis Hmon
A. M. Klein
Irving Layton
Dany Laferrire
Gilles Leclerc
Roger Lemelin
Quebec literature
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Antonine Maillet
Yann Martel
Gaston Miron
mile Nelligan
Mordecai Richler
Gabrielle Roy
Flix-Antoine Savard
David Solway
Hector de St-Denys Garneau
Victor Teboul
Yves Thriault
Michel Tremblay
Roland Michel Tremblay
Marie Uguay
Pierre Vallires
In addition, New Englanders of French-Canadian descent became important figures in American literature, notably
Jack Kerouac and Grace Metalious.
Further reading
Lemire, Maurice (1993). La Littrature qubcoise en projet, au milieu du XIXe sicle. ditions Fides. ISBN
2-7621-1672-4
External links
History of French Canadian literature
[1]
.
Quebec literature in 600 titles
[2]
(in French)
Centre qubcois de recherche sur l'archive littraire
[3]
(in French)
Public domain literature of Quebec in French
[4]
Public domain literature of Quebec in English
[5]
References
[1] http:/ / www2.marianopolis. edu/ quebechistory/ royindex. htm
[2] http:/ / clicnet. swarthmore.edu/ litterature/ litterature. quebecoise/ andres. sommaire. html
[3] http:/ / www. unites. uqam. ca/ arche/ accueil. html
[4] http:/ / jydupuis. apinc. org/ pdf/
[5] http:/ / jydupuis. apinc. org/ english/
Article Sources and Contributors
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Article Sources and Contributors
Quebec literature Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=600467435 Contributors: Ann Errata, Arch dude, Atropos, AuxBuissonets, BD2412, Bearcat, Beltz, Boffob, CJ Withers,
Cherubinirules, Danny, Eric119, Ericamick, Greatgavini, JillandJack, Kelisi, Kyoko, Liberlogos, Linguoboy, Man vyi, Markytea, Mathieugp, Maximus Rex, Mindmatrix, North8000, RedWolf,
Rrobbins, SimonP, Singingdaisies, Tassedethe, Tentinator, Tony1, Welsh, Woohookitty, 14 anonymous edits
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