Language Dichotomy in Contemporary Montreal: A Review of the 'Two Solitudes' in Recent Fiction and Non-Fiction

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Language Dichotomy in Contemporary Montreal: A Review of the 'Two Solitudes' in Recent Fiction and Non-Fiction
Abstract
The author examines how Quebec's two major linguistic communities are increasingly interacting with one another in the post-Bill 101 and post-referenda period, as reflected in narrative fiction. She points out that writers have always engaged in and contributed to the language debate. But, she asks, how does literature make present-day society 'speak,' now that the most recent turbulent times in Quebec history appear to have calmed down, and that the major literary voices of the recent past – Gabrielle Roy, Hubert Aquin and Mordecai Richler, to name just a few – have largely passed on? The author examines the writings of Monique Proulx and Neil Bissoondath, two authors presently living and writing in Quebec, who have scrutinized interactions between Anglophones and Francophones in present-day Montreal in their works of narrative fiction. The author concludes that their texts reflect some of the positive changes that have taken place in Montreal in recent years.
Publication
Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien
Volume
Vol. 34
Issue
Issue 63
Pages
105-125
Date
2014
Language
en
URL
Citation
Rudig, Stefanie. “Language Dichotomy in Contemporary Montreal: A Review of the ‘Two Solitudes’ in Recent Fiction and Non-Fiction.” Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien Vol. 34, no. Issue 63 (2014): 105–125. http://www.kanada-studien.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ZKS_2014_6_Rudig.pdf.
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