'L'exception irlandaise' : La représentation de l'Irlande et des Irlandais dans la presse anglophone du Bas-Canada, 1823-1836

The author points out that from the early 1820s to the eve of the 1837 Rebellion, the discussion of Irish politics was a major issue in both the Anglophone and Francophone press of Lower Canada. Francophone papers associated with the Patriote movement integrated large parts of the anti-colonial discourse being deployed in Montreal's Irish Vindicator newspaper and supported Daniel O'Connell's campaign for Catholic emancipation and repeal of the Union between Ireland and Great Britain. Tory papers in Montreal and Quebec City, on the other hand, were highly critical of both campaigns and represented their leaders as dangerous agitators. The author argues that the debate on the political situation of Ireland in the Anglophone press revealed an important division within the colony's English-speaking communities. He maintains that in an attempt to win Irish immigrants to their cause, Tory editors developed a discourse on the identity of the English-speaking minority in Lower Canada that was based primarily on language.

Les Cahiers des Dix

No. 65

117-139

2011

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