Indigenous and Transcultural Narratives in Québec: Ways of Belonging (2024)

By: Dervila Cooke

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Synopsis: This book focuses on modes of cultural belonging in Québec. It looks at recent literary memoir, autobiographical fiction, and documentary testimony. Through four in-depth case studies of cultural creators, one Indigenous and three non-Indigenous, Dervila Cooke discusses multicultural and ethnically diverse society in Québec, examining current tensions, challenges, and opportunities. Works studied range from Abla Farhoud’s first novel in 1998 to Anita Aloisio’s 2022 documentary film Calliari, QC. Topics include the desire for freedom to self-ascribe and enact cultural identity, self-reinvention through fiction, expressions of Indigeneity in Naomi Fontaine, the term “Québécois”, especially after Bill 21, and the thorny question of integration of immigrants, discussed in relation to Akos Verboczy’s Rhapsodie québécoise. As with the companion volume on France, societal factors are discussed, here relating to the cultural renaissance of Indigenous writing, Farhoud’s Libano-Québécois context, and language laws in Québec, including the foundational Bill 101 and the more recent Bill 96.