Description
Book SynopsisAn Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library.The question ‘What is Québécois literature?’ may seem innocent and answerable, yet Rosemary Chapman's compelling study shows that to answer it is to chart the cultural history of French Canada, to put francophone writing in Canada in postcolonial context and to ask whether literary history, with its focus on the nation, is in fact obsolete. This remarkable book will be compulsory reading for scholars well-versed in francophone postcolonial studies and will also act as an ideal introduction for Anglophone scholars of Canadian literature.
Trade ReviewChapman writes with authority and clarity, brilliantly examining the historiography of francophone Canadian writing in relation to other colonial and postcolonial national literatures... the book will, I am sure, introduce Anglophone readers not only to francophone Canadian literature, but also to the intellectual, social, and political history of French Canada.
Jane MossThe author has intelligently used the results of extensive research to provide a unique insight into what has been defined as “Québécois literature” as well as other literatures of francophone Canada. This book will be appealing to specialists in Quebec literature, as well as those involved in French and francophone literary studies and, more generally, postcolonial studies.
Mary Jean GreenTable of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chronology
- 1. How has the literary history of francophone Canada been told in the twentieth century?
- 2. Literary history in the curriculum
- 3. The literary anthology as a tool of literary history
- 4. What does a nation-shaped literary history exclude from within and beyond Quebec? Two case studies
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
