Études Canadiennes - Canadian Studies – serie

This book offers an extensive and detailed look at the geographies of Canada, one of the largest countries in the world. The contributors consider subjects such as energy, resources, the rise of communications and the knowledge infrastructure, and the ever-expanding socio-cultural context in the twenty-first century, due to increased immigration from non-Anglophone or non-Francophone countries and communities. The volume is set against the historical background of Canada where distances are significant both in physical and symbolic terms.Each chapter of the book includes review questions that will help instructors to outline student work plans and spark interest in issues such as landscape, politics and change. The volume provides a thorough introduction to Canada while also touching upon contemporary geographical issues.

Quelle est la différence entre un écrivain considéré sans distinction aucune, un écrivain québécois, un écrivain forgé par l’immigration et un écrivain étiqueté comme écrivain migrant ? Y a-t-il un lien entre le contexte socioculturel et historique du Québec et l’émergence des « écritures migrantes » ? Quand un écrivain migre, ses sources d’inspirations migrent-elles avec lui ? Peut-on parler d’un seul imaginaire migrant ou bien, à l’instar de leurs auteurs, les sujets migrent-ils à leur tour ? À quel niveau, la dimension migrante se laisse-t-elle le mieux observer ? Cet ouvrage se propose de cerner ces différentes questions pour rendre hommage aux écritures migrantes, courant littéraire éphémère et redondant de la fin du XXe siècle au Québec. L’auteure cherche à expliquer la popularité de ce phénomène complexe qui dépasse de loin le domaine de la langue et littérature francophone et se retrouve, un peu à son insu, à la croisée de plusieurs disciplines telles que la sociologie, la psychologie (voire la psychanalyse), l’histoire, les politiques de l’immigration et, surtout, face à la problématique du regard qui fige et définit. Structuré autour de trois grandes questions (le statut des écrivains issus de l’immigration, les thèmes et la langue), cet ouvrage joint à un contexte spécifique – celui de l’effervescence culturelle et sociopolitique au Québec à la fin du XXe siècle – la réflexion sur la représentation littéraire de l’immigration et de l’identité, interpellée dans toute sa postmodernité.

In recent decades, and in particular as a result of global climate change, the significance of the Arctic has radically shifted, from a remote periphery to a region of intensifying political and academic interest and of conflicting interests.This collection of texts examines in particular how national and international politics and law impact on Arctic governance, communications and indigenous rights; and in parallel, explores perceptions and experiences of the North in literature and the dramatic arts. The book thus offers a platform for cross-disciplinary dialogue, in order to highlight that the Arctic is too multi-faceted and complex for any one discipline or approach adequately to encompass.

Que se passe-t-il lorsque des personnes observant une religion minoritaire (voire même majoritaire) demandent l’adaptation de règles générales au nom de la pratique de leur foi ? Comment les employeurs, les pouvoirs publics, les directeurs ou les fournisseurs de services réagissent-ils à de telles demandes ? Que stipule la loi en de pareils cas ? Et quels sont les arguments normatifs en faveur ou à l’encontre de ce type de demandes ? Aux États-Unis et au Canada, ces questions sont traitées depuis plusieurs décennies par le jeu du concept juridique d’« accommodement raisonnable ». En Belgique, les sociologues ont pu observer depuis des années de nombreuses pratiques similaires, sans toutefois les nommer comme telles. Aujourd’hui, avec le développement, en droit européen, de la notion de discrimination indirecte, ainsi que l’introduction du principe d’« aménagement raisonnable » pour les personnes souffrant d’un handicap, la question se pose de savoir jusqu’à quel point cette figure juridique peut être mobilisée pour les pratiques religieuses. Cet ouvrage collectif rassemble des contributions d’académiques issus des deux côtés de l’Atlantique. En croisant les regards – philosophiques, politologiques, juridiques et sociologiques –, il vise à dépasser une approche passionnelle d’un débat éminemment sensible, où le monde scientifique est traversé par des opinions très contrastées.

À l’heure où les Européens s’interrogent sur les réponses à apporter à l’intensification des flux migratoires, le Canada où la gestion de l’immigration et de la diversité culturelle occupe une place centrale dans la vie intellectuelle et politique depuis les années 1960 attire l’attention de nombreux observateurs. Saisir la complexité et la richesse de ces débats, nécessite une étude fine de l’évolution de la société canadienne. Qui de mieux que Jean-Michel Lacroix pouvait livrer cette analyse ? Ce « canadianiste » internationalement reconnu, pionnier des études canadiennes tant en France qu’au niveau international a publié pendant une trentaine d’année des textes de référence sur les questions d’immigration et de multiculturalisme. Hélène Harter et Serge Jaumain ont choisi de réunir ici une sélection de ses articles qui restent d’une étonnante actualité et permettent de suivre l’évolution d’une pensée originale bien loin des clichés et autres idées reçues sur la réalité canadienne.

This book explores environmental issues in Canada employing an interdisciplinary approach. It adopts several reading frameworks, encompassing the fields of literature, ecocriticism, linguistics, tourism, social sciences, architecture and geography. It investigates the keyword ‘green’ from a multiplicity of perspectives, including the voice of Cree writer Louise B. Halfe/Sky Dancer. Thus, green should be seen as one of the main symbolic colours which define contemporary Canadian identity. Its six sections address intertwined issues such as the preservation and annihilation of the green landscape, the re-rooting of indigenous worldviews, the impact of Italian rural traditions in urban Canada, the influence of contemporary literary landscapes, the language of green in tourism and linguistics. At the end of the volume, Margaret Atwood’s recent writings are considered as playing a crucial role in the new consciousness of green Canada.

Exploring Canada: Exploits and Encounters is a collection of articles on a broad variety of Canadian topics and themes, from literature to language and linguistics, from social and political issues to art and aesthetics, philosophy, history and geography. Initiated by The Nordic Association for Canadian Studies (NACS), this volume has been put together by an international team of scholars who all work in the multidisciplinary field of Canadian Studies.The book engages with the broad theme of exploration in both concrete and metaphorical terms. The writers recognise that Canadian society has emerged from complex processes of exploration and encounters between people and ideas. The volume looks beyond simply celebrating these processes, and asks how different peoples, regions and ideas in Canada have been shaped by centuries of exploits and encounters in terms of gaining visibility and representation in the political life, literature and social relations of a multi-ethnic society.

In this collection, specialists examine, often through a comparative filter, themes related to migrant literatures, cultural diversity and aspects of Canadian state policy. The results of this examination offer an overview of Canadian society, which, as most contemporary societies, must address issues such as identity, human rights, Aboriginal peoples, international relations, multiculturalism, pollution, and language policies. At the same time, they present a view of the new trends, key interests and the cutting edge in Canadian Studies. Des spécialistes examinent dans ce recueil, souvent sous un angle comparatiste, le phénomène des littératures migrantes, de la diversité culturelle et de certaines des politiques d’État du Canada. Les résultats de leur analyse offrent, à partir de certains éléments constitutifs, une vue d’ensemble de la société canadienne. Ils démontrent comment cette dernière fait face aux questions de l’identité, des droits de la personne, des populations autochtones, du multiculturalisme, des politiques linguistiques, des relations internationales et des questions environnementales. Les nouvelles approches choisies par les différents auteurs font de cet ouvrage un outil important pour les études canadiennes.

Responding to the comprehensive topic ‘Old Environments – New Environments’, scholars from a variety of disciplines reflect the various connotations that the term ‘environment’ carries in a Canadian context. Whether moving within the realm of foreign policy, visual arts, constitutional questions, tourism, nature preservation or aboriginal rights, these essays put the capaciousness and cohesiveness of the nation to the test by illustrating the pressures enforced upon it by multiculturalism, the claims for self-determination, anti-confederate agitation and globalisation. The environments scrutinised are many and various, but within each the linchpin remains the quest for identity on the part of the individual, the group or the nation at large. Individually as well as collectively, the essays in this volume constitute an important contribution to the ongoing debate on Canadianness.

Cet ouvrage propose un dialogue original entre historiens et littéraires, à travers un parcours qui conduit le lecteur de l’iconographie de l’Acadie à sa production cinématographique, en passant par l’étude de la littérature, de la poésie et même de l’opéra acadiens. Cette analyse panoramique illustre l’importance, la diversité et la richesse des travaux menés aujourd’hui, tant au Canada qu’à l’étranger, sur la culture acadienne.

Après les bouleversements liés à la sédentarisation des années 1950 et suite à leur lutte politique, les sociétés inuit accèdent à présent à des formes d’autonomie territoriale : au Nunavut et ailleurs, l’heure est au partenariat, et le gouvernement compte sur les anthropologues pour participer au renouveau culturel, les « traditions » étant sollicitées pour faire face aux défis du présent. Que signifie ce partenariat et quels sont ses fondements idéologiques ? Comment les anthropologues réagissent-ils à la multiplication des procédures d’accès au terrain et autres contraintes déontologiques ? Que penser du statut des « elders », devenus interlocuteurs privilégiés des nouveaux projets pédagogiques et d’une anthropologie souvent tournée vers l’idée de sauvetage culturel ? Quelle place pour l’anthropologie de la jeunesse et comment aborder les rapports interculturels entre les Inuit et la société eurocanadienne ? Le présent ouvrage aborde ces interrogations épistémologiques sensibles et engage à une pratique prononcée de la réflexivité dans ce contexte en constante évolution, où l’implication citoyenne du chercheur est hautement valorisée. In the wake of the upheavals caused by the shift to a sedentary lifestyle in the 1950s, and after a long political struggle, Inuit societies are now obtaining forms of territorial autonomy. In Nunavut, and other places, a new partnership is being formed, and the government is counting on anthropologists to participate in this cultural renewal which draws on ‘traditions’ in order to face the challenges of the present. What is the significance of this partnership, and what is its ideological grounding? How have anthropologists reacted to the emergence of new procedures for access to the field and other deontological constraints? What of the status of elders, who have become central agents in pedagogical projects, as well as in an anthropology often geared to the idea of cultural salvage? What place can be made for an anthropology of youth, and how are the relationships between Inuit communities and Euro-Canadian society to be approached? This volume tackles these sensitive theoretical questions, and urges a distinctly reflexive practice in this constantly evolving context, one in which the scholar’s civic engagement is highly valued.

The eight essays in Image Technologies in Canadian Literature reveal the ongoing importance of film and photography in the production of Canadian literary narratives. Covering modern to cutting-edge postmodern and postcolonial authors, the role of image texts and technologies is thoroughly investigated in relation to translation, performance, history, memory, point-of-view, picture poetics, and dialectical images; authors covered include Michael Ondaatje, Daphne Marlatt, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Robert Kroetsch, Joseph Dandurand and Stan Douglas. The resulting engagement with some of the key theorists of film and photography, such as Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes, and Susan Sontag, leads to a lively contribution to the study of hybrid forms of Canadian literature and its key theoretical/image texts.

Acadians remain one of the few North American historical minorities which has been able to survive as a distinct ethno-cultural and linguistic group. This fact is all the more striking since this people suffered a deportation and dispersion, and it does not possess its own territory, nor does it have a government of its own. Acadians therefore have continually had to face the issue of autonomy in all its varied forms. The central issue addressed by this book is an inquiry into the nature of the process which has maintained the unique Acadian minority in existence right up to the present day. This study differs from other multidisciplinary analyses of this community principally because it studies the historical continuity of the dynamic of autonomy that has evolved since the beginning of Acadia. The research for this complete chronological framework encompasses a number of intersecting disciplinary approaches at the historical, political, socio-cultural and existential levels. These differing perspectives are harmonized by their common objective of defining the process of autonomization, and the counter-process of heteronomization, which lie at the heart of each of the periods studied. These approaches allow critical openings between the framework of social history, power relationships and the fundamental aspirations of the minority.

Has Canada moved beyond the nation state into the world of the post-national? To what extent have fixed notions of Canadian nationhood been replaced by a more global, decentralized sense of identification? Is nationhood (or post-nationhood) best expressed by statelessness and exile or by belonging? Or can Canadian national identity in fact fruitfully coexist with the post-national consciousness? These are some of the issues covered by this volume, issues seen from a range of perspectives – literary, cultural, political and economic. In the literary sphere the national/post-national debate is explored both through canonical writers, such as L. M. Montgomery, Stephen Leacock, and Marie-Claire Blais, and through recent First Nations, Asian-Canadian, African-Canadian, Ukrainian-Canadian and Quebec writing. The political and economic range is equally diverse, covering such topics as immigration policy, multiculturalism, Canadian-American relations, tourist imaginings of the Canadian North, the Canadian city, and Quebec nationalism. The book brings together 27 original articles from international scholars and creative writers, offering both European and Canadian perspectives. Six articles in French focus specifically on the francophone sphere.

To what extent does Canada need to be reappraised? «Canada Exposed», the 6th biennial conference of the International Council for Canadian Studies, aimed to establish a better understanding of Canada. In this collection of papers from the conference, Canadian and international scholars examine little-studied or lesser-known aspects of Canadian culture, economics, politics, history and sociology, thus revealing the strengths and weaknesses of a society grappling with issues shared by many other contemporary societies. Découvrir le Canada ? Mieux le découvrir ! Tel était l’objectif du 6e colloque biennal du Conseil international d’études canadiennes « Le Canada à découvert ». En examinant certains éléments peu connus ou peu traités dans les domaines de la culture, de l’économie, de la politique, de l’histoire et de la sociologie, des chercheurs canadiens et internationaux révèlent les forces et les faiblesses d’une société aux prises avec des problèmes et des situations que partagent de nombreuses sociétés contemporaines. Ce volume rassemble et présente les fruits de leurs réflexions.

This groundbreaking volume of critical essays revolving around the concept of resurgence maps the modes of conservation, transformation, and invention of the literary, visual, and cultural expressions which Jane Urquhart’s singular voice has brought about on the Canadian but also international scene. Taking resurgence as the informing principle of investigation, the volume as a whole focuses on the rewriting and reconstruction of the past, on the modalities of its resurfacing or of its erasure. It raises questions about the explicit or implicit ideological repercussions of such concealment and disclosure, such rupture and resilience. Through the prism of this concept, through surveys, close textual scrutiny and comparative analyses, the book explores Urquhart’s discursive practices, the way they hinge on intertextuality or citation, at the same time as upon intratextuality or self-citation. It brings to the fore the extratextual and metatextual quality of her writing together with the transmediality, the transcoding or intersemioticity which characterize the interaction between literature and the visual arts in her fictional and poetic works. The volume engages with Urquhart’s entire literary œuvre, opening with a thoughtprovoking, previously unpublished address by Urquhart herself and concluding with a discussion with the author. Special emphasis has been given to A Map of Glass, with the third chapter entirely dedicated to its specific or comparative examination, but her collections of poetry and the other five novels have also garnered single or comparative critical attention from the present contributors. From The Whirlpool to A Map of Glass, the uncanny array of Urquhart’s resurgent colours makes us see «through the power of the written word» that there is a genuine mystery in art and a real place for wonder. It is the resurgence of such innermost forces, in the creative and critical landscapes of contemporaneity, that the present collection aims at bringing forth.

One of the main priorities of Stephen Harper’s government since it came to power in 2006 has been to preserve what it defines as «A Safe and Secure Canada.» Thus, it has remained in line with the radical security measures adopted by his predecessor following the September 11 attacks, turning them into a central and sustained feature of the country’s policy but also breaking up with the traditional representations of Canada as being less belligerent than its southern neighbour. This volume, which has emerged from discussions held during the September 25, 2009 conference on Canada’s «Security, Identity(ies) and Territory(ies)» (Université Stendhal – Grenoble 3), presents the thoughts of eight researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines, who have reflected upon the consequences of Canada’s security policy. Ten years after September 11, it attests to the issues that are still directly or indirectly linked to the attacks, but also to Canada’s new areas of concern in terms of security. Depuis son arrivée au pouvoir en 2006, l’une des priorités du gouvernement de Stephen Harper a été de préserver ce qu’il définit comme «A Safe and Secure Canada», poursuivant un virage sécuritaire amorcé par son prédécesseur suite aux attentats du 11 septembre 2001 et instaurant ainsi dans la durée une politique qui semble rompre avec les représentations traditionnelles d’un Canada moins belliqueux que son voisin américain. À partir d’une discussion amorcée lors de la journée d’études « Sécurité, Identité(s) et Territoire(s) » du 25 septembre 2009 (Université Stendhal – Grenoble 3), cet ouvrage présente les réflexions de huit chercheurs de disciplines et d’horizons très différents qui se sont interrogés sur les conséquences de cette politique. Dix ans après le 11 septembre, il fait état des enjeux qui sont encore directement ou indirectement liés à cet événement, mais aussi des nouvelles préoccupations du Canada en matière de sécurité.