L'histoire des communautés québécoises d'expression anglaise telle que racontée par quarante leaders communautaires anglophone : une mémoire historique en tension

The authors note that since its enactment in 1977, the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) has promoted the linguistic and socio-economic vitality of Francophones in Quebec, while also contributing to the progressive decline of the province’s English-speaking communities. In a context of this ongoing adaptation, the authors point out that the English-speaking community leaders seek to widen their community’s self-definition and make it more inclusive as part of their attempts to address challenges to their group’s development. To grasp the effects of these efforts, the authors examine how forty community leaders narrate the history of English-speaking Quebec, define their community’s collective identity, and the ways in which they perceive their language group’s boundaries. A content analysis by the authors reveals that the emerging histories depict a community described either as a singular entity or one in its plurality as being diverse, both however without consensual “heroes.” The main beginnings of English-speaking Quebec are associated with the “Conquest” of 1759, while the Quiet Revolution and its consequences, which overlap Bill 101, are described as a major turning point that continues to generate anxiety in community leaders’ definitions of their collective identity to this day. Overall, the authors contend that two historical narratives emerge : one of duality, which characterizes Anglophone identity as a unitary whole (in tension with a Francophone identity) ; the other of diversification, centred on English-speakers’ growing diversity. In conclusion, the authors question leaders’ resulting ability to mobilize these diverging narratives in order to increase their community’s cohesion in light of the challenges to its vitality.

La Charte : La loi 101 et les Québécois d’expression anglaise / The Charter : Bill 101 and English-Speaking Quebec

Québec

Presses de l’Université Laval

2021

323-362

fr

978-2-7637-5436-9