The Trope of the Translator: (Re)Writing History in Heather O'Neill's The Girl Who Was Saturday Night and Claire Holden Rothman's My October

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
The Trope of the Translator: (Re)Writing History in Heather O'Neill's The Girl Who Was Saturday Night and Claire Holden Rothman's My October
Abstract
The author notes that over the past several decades the relationship between Anglophones and Francophones in Quebec has become increasingly depolarized. The causes of this depolarized that changed Quebec's political landscape, she contends, are immigration, globalization, and waning support for the sovereignty movement in the years since the defeat of the 1995 referendum. Notwithstanding this conciliatory rapprochement, the author points out, it is surprising to note the sudden proliferation of Anglophone and Francophone novels and films dealing with two of the most antagonistic episodes in recent Quebec history, namely the October Crisis of 1970 and the 1995 referendum. The author's essay focuses on two Anglophone novels, Heather O'Neill's The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (2014)1 and Claire Holden Rothman's My October (2014), and argues that Holden Rothman uses the trope of translation to revisit, and rewrite, the dichotomous cultural narrative of the October Crisis. The author contends that by analyzing the role of the translator in My October provides insight into the zeitgeist of contemporary Anglo-Quebecers, pointing to both the opportunities and challenges of Quebec’s evolving sociopolitical landscape.
Publication
Canadian Literature : A Quarterly of Criticism and Review
Volume
No. 233
Pages
51-68, 184
Date
Summer 2017
Citation
Bloom, Myra. “The Trope of the Translator: (Re)Writing History in Heather O’Neill’s The Girl Who Was Saturday Night and Claire Holden Rothman’s My October.” Canadian Literature : A Quarterly of Criticism and Review No. 233 (Summer 2017): 51–68, 184.
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