Canadian literature

Canadian literature may be divided in two parts, somewhat like a tree with two great roots. One root is the deeply buried culture of France. The other is just as deeply buried in the traditions of England. One part of Canadian literature is written in French, the other in English. But the branches of this tree are purely Canadian. Authors and readers of each literature are gaining more and more knowledge of the other, in the original or in translation.

French-Canadian literature

French-Canadian literature followed a very different evolutionary path than English literature. French-Canadian literature was less an appendage to the literature of France than English Canada's was to Great Britain. Rather, the struggle of French Canada was to create a literature whole cloth. From the early settlements until the 1820s Quebec had virtually no literature to speak of. There were a few historians, journalists, and learned priests who published but overall, output was very low.

Related Topics:
French-Canadian - France - Great Britain

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It was the rise of Quebec patriotism and the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion, combined with a modern system of primary school education that led to the first surge of French-Canadian fiction. L'influence d'un livre by Philippe-Ignace-Francois Aubert de Gaspé usually being regarded as the first French-Canadian novel. The genres which first become popular were the rural novel and the historical novel. Influences from France began to be felt, especially such authors as Balzac.

Related Topics:
1837 - Lower Canada Rebellion - L'influence d'un livre - Philippe-Ignace-Francois Aubert de Gaspé - Balzac

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In 1866, Father Henri-Raymond Casgrain became one of Quebec's first literary theorists. He argued that literature's goal should be to project an image of proper Catholic morality. This view was accepted by most Québécois authors and much of what was written is generally considered bland and tedious. A few authors such as Louis-Honoré Fréchette and Arthur Buies did break accepted conventions and write engaging works.

Related Topics:
1866 - Henri-Raymond Casgrain - Catholic - Louis-Honoré Fréchette - Arthur Buies

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This pattern continued until the 1930s when a new group of authors educated at the Université Laval and the Université de Montréal. Novels with psychological and sociological foundations began to become the norm. Authors such as Gabrielle Roy and Anne Hébert for the first time began to earn international acclaim. During this period, Quebec theatre, which had previously been melodramas and comedies, became far more involved.

Related Topics:
1930s - Université Laval - Université de Montréal - Gabrielle Roy - Anne Hébert

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French-Canadian literature began to greatly expand with the turmoil of the Second World War, the beginnings of industrialization in the 1950s, and most especially the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. French-Canadian literature also began to attract a great deal of attention globally, with Acadian novelist Antonine Maillet winning the Prix Goncourt. An experimental branch of Quebecois literature also developed, such as formalist poet Nicole Brossard.

Related Topics:
Second World War - 1950s - Quiet Revolution - 1960s - Acadian - Antonine Maillet - Prix Goncourt - Formalist - Nicole Brossard

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See also: List of Quebec writers, Literature of Quebec

Related Topics:
List of Quebec writers - Literature of Quebec

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, List of French Canadian writers from outside Quebec

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