Contemporary trends
The dominant genre in Quebec and French Canadian literature since the latter part of the 20th century has been the novel.
In the 1960s, works of fiction reflected the turmoil of the Quiet Revolution in their radical, often sexual, themes and in their unconventional structures, derived in part from the French nouveau roman of the previous decade.
The Quebec “new novel” began with Jacques Godbout’s L’Aquarium (1962) and reached its high point in the brilliantly convoluted novels of Hubert Aquin that followed his Prochain épisode (1965; “Next Episode”; Eng. trans.
Prochain Episode).
Marie-Claire Blais’s Une Saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel (1965; A Season in the Life of Emmanuel), which won the Prix Médicis, presented a scathing denunciation of Quebec rural life, and Godbout’s Salut, Galarneau! (1967; Hail, Galarneau!) described the Americanization of Quebec.
Blais went on to receive critical acclaim for Soifs (1995; These Festive Nights), while, 26 years and several novels after Salut, Galarneau!, Godbout produced the sequel Le Temps des Galarneau (1993; The Golden Galarneaus).
Constantly renewing himself, Gérard Bessette moved from ironic realism in Le Libraire (1960; “The Bookseller”; Eng. trans.
Not for Every Eye) through stream of consciousness in L’Incubation (1965; Incubation) to symbolic narrative in Les Anthropoïdes (1977; “The Anthropoids”) and semiautobiographical diary fiction in Les Dires d’Omer Marin (1985; “The Sayings of Omer Marin”).
The poet Anne Hébert achieved success with her novel Kamouraska (1970; Eng. trans.
Kamouraska), won the Prix Fémina for Les Fous de Bassan (1982; In the Shadow of the Wind), and won a Governor General’s Award for L’Enfant chargé de songes (1992; Burden of Dreams), although the latter was less successful than her Le Premier jardin (1988; The First Garden).
Louise Maheux-Forcier scandalized certain readers in 1963 with Amadou (Eng. trans.
Amadou), a poetic novel about lesbian love.
Réjean Ducharme in L’Avalée des avalés (1966; The Swallower Swallowed) and other novels presented the disenchantment of young people in the nuclear age.
Other popular novelists of the later 20th century include Jacques Ferron, who poked fun at Quebec institutions, particularly in Le Ciel de Québec (1969; The Penniless Redeemer); the author and publisher Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, with his continuing saga of the Beauchemin family; Roch Carrier, who mocked biculturalism in La Guerre, Yes Sir! (1968; Eng. trans.
La Guerre, Yes Sir!); and Jacques Poulin, whose early novels, set in the old city of Quebec, are comic visions of life (Mon cheval pour un royaume [1967], Jimmy [1969], and Le Coeur de la baleine bleue [1970]; translated into English under the title The Jimmy Trilogy).
His novel Volkswagen Blues (1984; Eng. trans.
Volkswagen Blues), although set mostly in the United States, is ultimately a quest for Quebec identity.
In the 1980s the success of Yves Beauchemin’s Le Matou (1981; The Alley Cat) and Arlette Cousture’s historical novel Les Filles de Caleb (3 vol., 1985–2003; Emilie) suggested a return in favour of plot-driven narrative.
Overview
The dominant genre in Quebec and French Canadian literature since the latter part of the 20th century has been the novel.
In the 1960s, works of fiction reflected the turmoil of the Quiet Revolution in their radical, often sexual, themes and in their unconventional structures, derived in part from the French nouveau roman of the previous decade.
The Quebec “new novel” began with Jacques Godbout’s L’Aquarium (1962) and reached its high point in the brilliantly convoluted novels of Hubert Aquin that followed his Prochain épisode (1965; “Next Episode”; Eng. trans.
Prochain Episode).
Marie-Claire Blais’s Une Saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel (1965; A Season in the Life of Emmanuel), which won the Prix Médicis, presented a scathing denunciation of Quebec rural life, and Godbout’s Salut, Galarneau! (1967; Hail, Galarneau!) described the Americanization of Quebec.
Blais went on to receive critical acclaim for Soifs (1995; These Festive Nights), while, 26 years and several novels after Salut, Galarneau!, Godbout produced the sequel Le Temps des Galarneau (1993; The Golden Galarneaus).
Constantly renewing himself, Gérard Bessette moved from ironic realism in Le Libraire (1960; “The Bookseller”; Eng. trans.
Not for Every Eye) through stream of consciousness in L’Incubation (1965; Incubation) to symbolic narrative in Les Anthropoïdes (1977; “The Anthropoids”) and semiautobiographical diary fiction in Les Dires d’Omer Marin (1985; “The Sayings of Omer Marin”).
The poet Anne Hébert achieved success with her novel Kamouraska (1970; Eng. trans.
Kamouraska), won the Prix Fémina for Les Fous de Bassan (1982; In the Shadow of the Wind), and won a Governor General’s Award for L’Enfant chargé de songes (1992; Burden of Dreams), although the latter was less successful than her Le Premier jardin (1988; The First Garden).
Louise Maheux-Forcier scandalized certain readers in 1963 with Amadou (Eng. trans.
Amadou), a poetic novel about lesbian love.
Réjean Ducharme in L’Avalée des avalés (1966; The Swallower Swallowed) and other novels presented the disenchantment of young people in the nuclear age.
Other popular novelists of the later 20th century include Jacques Ferron, who poked fun at Quebec institutions, particularly in Le Ciel de Québec (1969; The Penniless Redeemer); the author and publisher Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, with his continuing saga of the Beauchemin family; Roch Carrier, who mocked biculturalism in La Guerre, Yes Sir! (1968; Eng. trans.
La Guerre, Yes Sir!); and Jacques Poulin, whose early novels, set in the old city of Quebec, are comic visions of life (Mon cheval pour un royaume [1967], Jimmy [1969], and Le Coeur de la baleine bleue [1970]; translated into English under the title The Jimmy Trilogy).
His novel Volkswagen Blues (1984; Eng. trans.
Volkswagen Blues), although set mostly in the United States, is ultimately a quest for Quebec identity.
In the 1980s the success of Yves Beauchemin’s Le Matou (1981; The Alley Cat) and Arlette Cousture’s historical novel Les Filles de Caleb (3 vol., 1985–2003; Emilie) suggested a return in favour of plot-driven narrative.
