The Narcissism of Nationalism: Irish Images of Quebec

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
The Narcissism of Nationalism: Irish Images of Quebec
Abstract
The author argues that mid-nineteenth-century Irish nationalists invented a view of Quebec after their own image. Before the French Revolution of 1848, moderate Irish nationalists used the example of Quebec to strengthen their position that constitutional agitation was more effective than revolutionary activity. After the French Revolution, when the Irish moderates became radicalized, the view of Quebec was re-conceptualised as part of an international revolutionary movement. Central to this re-conceptualisation was the view that Irish- and French-Canadians formed a natural alliance against British rule. This view was held by the Young Ireland exiles in the United States, and carried forward into the Fenian movement during the 1860s. Yet the reality was different. French Canadian political leaders were much more conservative than radical Irish nationalists, and there were significant tensions between the Irish and French in Quebec. The gap between the myth and reality, according to the author, contributed to the failure of the Fenian invasion strategy of 1866 and 1870.
Publication
Canadian Journal of Irish Studies/Revue canadienne d’études irlandaises
Volume
Vol. 33
Issue
no. 1
Pages
11-19
Date
2007
Language
en
Citation
Wilson, David A. “The Narcissism of Nationalism: Irish Images of Quebec.” Canadian Journal of Irish Studies/Revue canadienne d’études irlandaises Vol. 33, no. 1 (2007): 11–19.
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