Une brève histoire des lectures de Mordecai Richler au Québec francophone

The author points out that there exists in Francophone Quebec a preconceived notion that the works of Montreal author and social commentator Mordecai Richler (1931-2001) have been tainted by his various essays and articles on Quebec's restrictive linguistic policies and tribal nationalism. However, the author maintains, a review of the history of Richlerian criticism of Quebec yields a better understanding of how existing argumentative mechanisms, articulating the relationships between "us" and the nation, were only strengthened by such polemics. Richler's "runaway criticism" during the 1980s and 1990s had the paradoxical effect of projecting the writer to the forefront of debates as an antagonistic figure, a role that his defenders subsequently used to attack a restrictive vision of Québécois national membership. The author argues that rather than resulting from a hybridization or meeting of cultures, the re-appropriation of Richler's work by a portion of Quebec critics serves to frame a new conception of what it means to be Québécois.

Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes

Vol. 46

no. 3

225-241

Automne 2013

fr