Language as a Technology of Power : An Intersectional Analysis of the Charter of the French Language

The authors examine the role of the Charter of the French Language in solidifying and entrenching French as the primary signifier of Quebec’s identity and culture through the exclusion of the intersectional social location of racialized minorities. Specifically, the authors offer an analysis of the impact of the Charter on Allophone racialized communities within Quebec in light of the prioritization of French in public discourse. The authors note that a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the language of the Charter of the French Language, in conjunction with a cursory overview of media coverage regarding Allophone communities in La Presse and the Montreal Gazette, provides the framework of analysis. Drawing from existing studies and analysis of the Charter, the authors argue that language itself functions as a technology of power, separating out those who symbolically belong and those who are erased from Québécois culture.

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

249-279

en

978-2-7637-5436-9