November 2009

French correspondence beyond the classroom walls
By Channing Jones

Channing is a student at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia. She wrote about her experience participating in a student exchange between her school and the Lycée Louis Bertrand in Briey, France. Many thanks to her French teacher Gerard Gatoux for sending this article to the Culture Club.


There she stood, clad in a pair of black leather boots and those tight-fitting jeans you’ll often find when flipping across the pages of Vogue. Wisps of her waving mocha locks spewed over the top of her matching leather jacket; the misty rain outside began to smudge away at the eyeliner under her lids. She and her friends began unloading their suitcases off the athletic buses, while a veil of silence fell over the crowd. I stood at the back of the group. Watching and waiting for her. When our eyes finally met and a rush of excitement propelled our feet toward one another, our brief cheek-to-cheek kiss silently involuntarily spoke the language of two countries meeting in sudden embrace. Salut, mon amie. Welcome, friend. Amélie Andrea Testa, my French pen pal correspondent, had finally arrived in the U.S., accompanied by nine other students from the surrounding regions near Lorraine. After two years of corresponding, they were finally here to stay with ten Southern families at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School for twelve days.

For the past three semesters, AP and Honors French students at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Sandy Springs have been eagerly communicating with their newly acquired pen pals via written letters and even chatting over the ever-popular internet webcams. French native and teacher at HIES, Gerard Gatoux had been preparing for the arrival of these French students to the U.S. for quite some time. Having taken numerous trips to several countries including Spain, Italy, Switzerland, England, Mexico, Costa Rica, and France, Gatoux knows there has never been a dull sojourn since he began taking students with him in 1976.

“Sometimes we [the students and I] just go stay in a hotel. Sometimes we stay with the families of people in different areas. I really love it when my students are able to live with a host, though, because they get a real sense of the culture and can familiarize themselves with a language other than their own,” added Gatoux.

“What I think was so great about this experience was that both groups of teens quickly began to recognize that even though we live an ocean apart, we have way more similarities than we realized. And this same lesson can be applied when establishing correspondence with people in countries across the world. It was really eye-opening,” says Sarah Hamill, a Junior and Honors French student at Holy Innocents’.

With the hopes of quenching their thirst for American tourist sites, Gatoux’s students rode buses with their pen pals to visit the Aquarium, CNN center, World of Coca Cola, and the MLK Center. A sea of blinding flashes reflected onto the never-ending glass walls of the Aquarium, as students marveled over the 30-ft whale sharks that have become a popular attraction in the Atlanta metro area. The World of Coca Cola provided students with a taste testing session of 64 Coke products from around the world, while the MLK Center’s striking historic images left lasting impressions on many students from France.

“All in all, everything was really wonderful. But my favorite place of all that we visited was definitely the CNN center,” recalled French student Mélanie Gasparrini. “I loved seeing the way an American news station manages its information. I was really impressed by the fact that the news is constantly playing into the day and into the night.”

Tourist destinations and American fast food chains pervaded the daily schedules of the French and American students, but the learning continued to take place within the classroom during the ten-day period. Holy Innocents’ teacher, Gerard Gatoux, and the French teacher Madame Faye-Gallatinni, who traveled with her students from Lycée Louis Bertrand, held sessions of open discussion with all of the students during class time. The intention was to identify and break down the stereotypes of French and American people, hopefully to create a more accurate understanding and depiction of everyday life in these countries. It is the “only step toward peace,” something Faye emphasized during one of her co-teaching days with Gatoux. Some of the more bizarre rumors left students giggling with embarrassment, while others had classmates questioning the roots of unflattering stereotypes.

“We came into this expecting our pen pals to improve the quality of their language and get a feel for the culture. They were here to learn about us, when I feel as though we’re the ones who, in turn, learned so much about them. It was so much greater to have them visit us in person because there's quite a difference between talking to someone via an internet webcam versus the real deal. We got a chance to become really acquainted with each other and to abolish and false perceptions we may have had about each other. We had the opportunity to make true friendships,” says Junior at Holy Innocents’ and Honors French student, Katelyn Dramis.

Ten days pass quickly, as Amélie Andréa Testa, my heartwarmingly shy fashionista from Homecourt France, and I did learn. Approaching the departure buses, I was forced to reminisce over the short-lived yet momentous experience. An eerie silence of a language barrier that once shrouded the walls within my home had now become peaceful stillness. The series of quizzical glances from miscommunications in conversation had morphed into smiles and fits of laughter and an unexpressed understanding of one another. But the slamming of a creaking bus door jolted my thoughts and I was brought back to the realization that our French friends were bidding us farewell. The blushing and brown-eyed young woman with whom I had shared common knowledge and sit-down Southern meals embraced me with her version of an American hug. Tears streamed down faces of both boys and girls in the program. Camera flashes erupted onto the scene.

“If I only had one more day to spend here in the U.S., I would spend it with all of these wonderful people I met on this vacation. I would spend my entire day with them because they have all been so welcoming. I truly am not ready to leave here,” stated a teary-eyed student from Lycée Louis Bertrand, Cédric Corzani.

Mr. Gerard Gatoux and his students hope to travel to France in March of 2010. He wishes to continue his work of emphasizing the importance of promoting global communication—inside the hearts and minds of his students and out of the confines of classroom walls.

“Just merely on a personal level, “ comments Chris Durst, Upper School Principal at Holy Innocents’, “allowing these kids to spend time with students from another country was such a great experience for all of them. These students got to form lasting friendships with people that will continue to grow after this hosting experience. It was just so fun for them all.”

All of the students of Gerard Gatoux and Madame Faye look forward to future years of correspondence. To the students of HI and Lycée Louis Bertrand, spending time with each other was none other this: très essentiel.

Shown here: Students Amelia Testa (left), and Channing Jones (right)

Back to Top

October 2009

San Marino:  Champions in Longevity
By Carlo Mignani

What would you do to add five years to your life? How much money would you spend if you could buy those five years? $100,000, $500,000, all you have?

Boys born in San Marino, a tiny independent state nestled in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, are expected to live to age 81, the world's longest male life expectancy at birth, according to the World Health Organization.  Newborn boys in the US have a 76 year life expectancy, at 33rd place, tied with Cuba and Finland.
 
Life Expectancy

Many factors contribute to individual longevity, such as gender and genetics.  Women tend to live longer than men; however, genetics for a big pool of people like a nation, tend to average out.  Hygiene, nutrition and exercise, when speaking about the advanced countries, are not too relevant.  Infant mortality, crime and associated poor life choices will affect the averages, but it seems that diet and access to health care are the primary drivers.

San Marino – stats and history

San Marino is in the heart of Italy in the Emilia-Romagna region near the border with the Marche.  With 61,196 square kilometers and approximately 30,000 people, it is the third smallest European country after Monaco and Vatican City.  Founded in the IV century, it is the oldest republic in the world.

Resisting the temptations of foreign adventurers and thanks to a forward looking diplomacy, it was able to maintain its independence during the Italian period of city states, the attempt of expansion of the Pontific State, and even during the Napoleonic invasion.  Italy recognizes San Marino’s independence with the convention of 22 March 1862.

During their long history the Sammarinesi have displayed a rare awareness of their own strength and an exceptional political moderation.  Maybe this moderation is felt also in their individual choices.

Diet of the Sammarinesi

Life expectancy is correlated to diet. The Emilia-Romagna region, known for its gastronomic delights, is the home of tortellini, Parmigiano Reggiano, ravioli, mortadella, prosciutto, ragù alla bolognese, zampone, and many local kinds of cured meats.  Not exactly the healthiest by today standards.

The healthy Mediterranean diet cannot explain the longevity of the Sammarinesi because this traditional diet is largely practiced in the southern regions of Italy while San Marino is in the North.  Nowadays, of course, with the increased wealth of the Italians, a richer version of the traditional Mediterranean diet is practiced throughout Italy.

Health care

Life expectancy is also correlated to individuals’ access to health care, and San Marino provides it for all its citizens.  However, most European countries provide universal health care so this could not account for the difference in life expectancy.

Conclusion

So how have Sammarinesi managed to live longer than anybody else? 

San Marino has the lowest infant mortality in the world. There is little crime. But might other factors contribute? The people’s general attitude of moderation? The very small size of the country? The forced daily exercise just to do anything in this tiny but steep location? Or the wine? We do not know the entire story yet, so stay tuned. Researchers are undoubtedly hard at work trying to solve this puzzle.

Carlo Mignani is a free lance writer specializing in Italian cultural subjects. He also serves as the Italian language Book and Film Editor of the Culture Club.

Back to Top

September 2009

Paris: La Police à Paris
By Beckie Bray

Beckie Bray travels often to Paris and, while there, she is a keen observer of the local culture. In this article, her third in a series of four, she focuses on the reassuring presence of the police in Paris.

Quand j'ai commencé mon voyage à Paris seule, j'avais un peu peur de la nuit. On peut parler avec n'importe qui aux cafés le jour, mais la nuit c’est différent. Je connais Paris, mais ça ne veut pas dire que j’allais toujours éviter le danger. Il y a toujours des histoires tristes des dames qui n'étaient pas sages et qui ont souffert. Je suis énergique et parce qu’ un de mes buts était de parler avec des parisiens, je me suis laissée un peu ouverte au danger. Paris, une ville diverse, est plein de gens directs et carrés. Mais, parce que j'avais navigué les jours et les nuits à DC et à Boston, alors j'avais confiance que je ne serais pas stupide en faisant des bêtises.

Paris la nuit est ravissante.  Les gens sont super sympa. Le Pont Lazare est ouvert, les monuments sont illuminés, et la police est en force. Une nuit, j'ai décidé de faire nuit blanche pour prendre des photos de Paris et découvrir  la ville d'amour et de lumières.
Je me promenais sur la Rive Gauche dans le Quartier Latin jusqu'aux Champs-Élysées. Devant moi, il y avait cinq jeunes: une femme qui était en train de se fâcher contre un homme, deux amis de la femme, et un ami de l'homme. Il m'a semblé qu'un des amis de la femme tenait un homme. Quand je me suis approchée, le volume de leurs voix s'augmentait et j'avais un peu peur que quelque chose se développe.  Il y avait six mètres entre moi et eux et je me suis demandé quoi faire: attendre, passer vite, ou traverser la rue. A ce moment-là, une voiture s'est arrêtée sur la rue et la fenêtre s’est baissée. Un gendarme a demandé ce qui se passait et la femme a dit "rien". Alors, la police est sortie de la voiture et ils ont parlé avec l'homme en le tenant loin de la dame. Puis, les amis ont fait pareil avec la dame et un gendarme l'a suivie un kilomètre pour être sûr que rien ne se passerait de plus.

J'ai suivi la rue plus loin que le Pont Lazare et j'ai vu trois bateaux qui arrivaient à un  seul endroit. J'ai remarqué six jeunes, un qui était déshabillé! Puis, de l'eau est sorti un autre mec qui avait nagé dans la Seine – quelle horreur! La police est sortie du bateau et l’a emmené aux quais. Il ne parlait pas français, alors la police lui a expliqué que ce n'était pas bon pour la santé de se jeter dans la Seine. À ce moment-là, j'ai voulu quitter la scène, alors je ne sais pas s'ils ont amené le nageur à l’Hôtel-Dieu pour le donner au médecin avant de le juger.

J'étais près des Champs-Élysées. Donc j'ai traversé un pont et j’ai marché sur la Rue de Rivoli. Quand je suis arrivée sur les Champs, j'ai vu la sécurité en force près des boîtes de nuit et les marchés ouverts. Il y avait un mec qui essayait d'entrer dans la boulangerie où j'étais en train d'acheter une boisson. Immédiatement, la sécurité lui a demandé s'il voulait quelque chose. L'homme a dit "non", et la sécurité est restée là pour être sûre qu'il n'entrerait pas. Je n’étais pas inquiète parce que la sécurité était là, travaillante.

Alors, j'étais contente et je n’étais jamais énervée quand j’étais à Paris la nuit. Soit sur les quais, dans les boîtes de nuit, sur les rues, ou dans le métro, il y avait toujours une présence policière pour que l’on ne puisse pas s’inquiéter, même une fille seule.

Back to Top

August 2009

Québec: Our Francophone Neighbor to the North

Marcel LaVergne Ed.D.
Printable version (pdf)

Some years ago when I was teaching at Natick High School in Massachusetts, one of my French 2 students, who had just spent his winter vacation in Québec with his parents, proudly announced to me and to the class that when he was in Québec everybody spoke French and "they really do use the passé composé over there."

Surprisingly, in spite of the fact that it takes only 6 hours to drive to Montréal, many of my students had no idea where Québec was.  That province could have been on the other side of the world as far as they were concerned.  In fact, that could also have been said for many French teachers because there was very little mention of Québec in our curriculum or in the textbooks that we used, other than a few photos of Montréal and Québec City.  There was almost no mention of Québec life, traditions, literature, music, cuisine, cinema, art, etc.

As part of my series of articles on la Francophonie, I would like to offer some insights about Québec in light of the Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities Strands of the Foreign Languages National Framework.  The 400^th anniversary of the founding of Québec City was celebrated during the month of October 2008.

A Bit of Québec History

Although the world associates Québec with the French language, the survival of French was very much in jeopardy of being transplanted by English.  The fact that French is the official language is due to the struggle and the perseverance of many people.  The following timeline contains the major events of that struggle.

• 1534-1542: Jacques Cartier makes three voyages to Canada.
• 1608: Samuel de Champlain founds the city of Québec.
• 1642: Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance found the city of Montréal.
• 1759: The British capture the city of Québec.
• 1763: The Treaty of Paris gives Canada to England.
• 1774: The Québec Act re-establishes French civil laws.
• 1791: The Constitutional Act divides Canada into two provinces: Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
• 1826: Louis-Joseph Papineau forms the Parti Patriote.
• 1837-1838: Failure of The Patriot Rebellion.
• 1838: Lower Canada declares its independence.
• 1839: The Durham Report advocates for the union of Upper and Lower Canada.
• 1840: The Upper and Lower Canada Union Act makes English the official language.
• 1842: Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine argues for French as a language in parliament.
• 1848: Abrogation of Article 41 of the Union Act which prohibited the use of French in the Assembly.
• 1850: Between 1850 and 1940 almost 900,000 French Canadians leave Lower Canada for the United States.
• 1867: The British North America Act, Article 133 makes bilingualism obligatory in the Québec and Ottawa parliaments.
• 1883: The motto Je me souviens is added to Québec’s coat of arms.
• 1887: Québec Premier Honoré Mercier wants Québec to assert itself as a French and Catholic nation.
• 1953: The Tremblay Commission recommends the creation of the Office de la langue française.
• 1960-1966: The Quiet revolution.
• 1960: Jean-Paul Desbiens writes Les Insolences du Frère Untel.
• 1961: Creation of the Office de la langue française.
• 1961: The Parent Commission overhauls the Québec system of education.
• 1963-1971: The Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism advocates for a bilingual Canada.
• 1969: The Official Languages Act establishes institutional bilingualism at the federal level.  
• 1976: René Lévesque’s Parti Québécois ascends to power.
• 1979: Michèle Lalonde publishes Défense et illustration de la langue québécoise.
• 1980: Québec independence referendum defeated 60%-40%.
• 1987: The Lake Meech Accord recognizes Québec’s distinct society status.
• 1990: Failure of the Lake Meech Accord.
• 1992: Failure of the Charlottetown Accord.
• 1995: Québec independence referendum narrowly defeated 51%-49%.

René Lévesque                      Louis-Joseph Papineau                       Charles de Gaulle

Back to Top

Québec: Canadian Province or Separate French Nation?

                  "Un pays, une culture"…

                  Voilà bien, en effet, les plus évidentes  et les plus simples éléments qui s’imposent

                  dans les faits pour définer cette étonnante réalité que constitue le Québec.

                                                                                                                              (Françoise Tétu de Labsade, p.11)

Although technically a part of Canada which is largely an anglophone country bordered on the south by New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, Québec occupies 15.5% of the surface of Canada and is as large as France, Germany, and Spain combined.  I say technically, because most Québécois consider that Québec is a separate and distinct autonomous society with its own language, culture, and laws.  Hence, the slogan found on every automobile license plate: Je me souviens. 

From the very beginning, the people refused to abandon their francophone heritage and to pledge allegiance to the British by abandoning their language, religion, and culture.  Controlled by the Catholic Church, the largely rural population lived in small villages which were named for the saint to which the local parish church was dedicated.  Many boys were named for Mary, the mother of God, with names such as Louis-Marie and Jean-Marie.  The Catholic Church ran the schools, the hospitals, the orphanages, and all the social services.  It opposed urbanization and industrialization.  Reminded constantly by their local clergy that their language and their religion were interdependent (la langue, la gardienne de la foi!), the people were rarely engaged in the business, commercial, industrial, and political realms of the region which took place in the cities where the language of the English-speaking minority prevailed.  Their whole life centered around the local parish church and the local pastor.  The less interaction with their English-speaking neighbors, the less chance that they would lose their faith.

Although the French-Canadians far outnumbered the English-Canadians, they were regarded as second-class citizens by the ruling English-speaking class who occupied the cities and ran the province.   Advocates for French-Canadian nationalism decried those deplorable conditions.

First, the situation, which was disastrous, was described. One hundred years after Durham, French-Canadian minorities had been despoiled of their rights.  Only English was spoken everywhere, "yet more serious still was that English unilingualism did not even respect Quebec rights."  In short, Confederation had not brought the promised equality.  Immigration favored the British.  And at the economic level, with figures to prove it, "French speakers were not only in a position of inferiority but were also in a state of dependence and even servitude." (Ares)

For many years, they worked as farmers and laborers and had no access to the world of banking, administration, and business where English was the language of preference.  In fact, they often referred to themselves as habitants, and the language they spoke was known as joual, an unsophisticated   and uneducated oral form of French.

The work on the farm was difficult and poverty was so rampant that in the early 1900’s, more than 1 million habitants left the rangs of Québec and sought work and a better standard of living in the New England States.  Most left with the intention of returning to their farms after earning some money there.  Those who did return did so with a different attitude and some experience of city life.  They wanted something better than the life they had left behind and moved to the cities.  That created an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and a desire to partake in the affairs of the province.

Prior to 1960, the French-Canadians penetrated slowly into the business world as more and more people left the farm. In 1900, 62% of the population lived in rural areas but in 1960 only 25% of the people did so.  Champions of Québec nationalism such as Louis-Joseph Papineau, founder of the Patri Patriote, l’abbé Lionel Groulx, director of l’Action française, Maurice Duplessis, Prime Minister of Québec, Paul-Emile Borduas, publisher of le Refus global, Jean-Paul Desbiens author of Les Insolences du frère Untel and Félix Leclerc , the first of les chansonniers who sang of French pride and the desire of recognition, were responsible for what has been called La Révolution tranquille of the 1960’s with the advent in power of Jean Lesage and the Parti Libéral who proclaimed "C’est le temps que ça change." and stated in 1962 their desire to be "Maîtres chez nous!"

According to Laing, the Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1963 found that Francophones did not occupy in the economy, nor in the decision-making ranks of government, the place their numbers warranted; that educational opportunities for the francophone minorities were not commensurate with those provided for the anglophone minority within Quebec and that French-speaking Canadians could neither find employment nor be served adequately in their language in federal-government agencies.  The periodical and the movement known as Parti pris (1963-1968) believed that

Le Québec a été et est toujours colonisé, par les Anglais, par les "Canadians," par l’élite cléricale et bourgeoise, par les exploiteurs capitalistes américains; même la littérature française a trop longtemps colonisé les lettres québécoises. (Françoise Tétu de Labsade, p.150)

Mills states that as far back as 1839 Lord Durham, referring to Lower Canada blamed the struggle between the Anglophones and the Francophones on racism and not on politics.  He found "two nations warring in the bosom of a single state." In his report to ensure harmony and progress, he recommended assimilating the French Canadians, whom he called "a people with no literature and no history," through a legislative union of the Canadas, in which an English-speaking majority would dominate.

The desire to be self-sufficient and to self-govern even to the extent of being an independent country was given fuel in 1967 when president DeGaulle of France shouted to the world during his visit to the World Fair in Montréal "Vive le Québec libre!"  One year later in 1968 René Lévesque founded the Parti  québécois whose platform and goal was to have a national referendum on Québec sovereignty.  The term French-Canadian was officially replaced by the more nationalistic word Québécois.

The biggest change and the one having the most drastic result was the formation of the Parent Commission (1963-1966) which completely reorganized the system of education by taking it out of the hands of the church and making it the responsibility of the state.  It is ironic that the man most responsible for this change was himself a bishop.  Having lost control of the schools, the church lost its most important source of candidates for the priesthood and religious life.  Although 86% of Québécois claim to be Catholic, only 10% attend services regularly.  In spite of its close relationship with the church from the very beginning of its existence and of the many architectural reminders scattered throughout the countryside, i.e., crosses, religious statues, and calvaires, Québec has in reality become a secular nation which has divorced itself from the institutional church.  Eventually, the Church lost its influence in all areas except religion when the state took control over all health and social services.

The Parent Commission instituted a national university called Université du Québec with 10 branches scattered throughout the region and replaced the 40 church-run collèges classiques for boys and écoles normales for girls with coeducational collèges d’enseignement général et professionnel"commonly referred to as CEGEPs.

With better access from the secondary level to the university, the caliber of Québécois graduates improved and many joined the ranks of the corporate and professional world.  Naturally, they expected to be treated on a par with the English speakers and that their language be recognized in the workplace, in shopping areas, and in government agencies.  National and ethnic pride became a watchword and was delivered over the radio and television by the young singer-songwriters of the 1960’s known as les chansonniers, the most famous being Gilles Vigneault, Robert Charlebois, Claude Léveillé, Diane Dufresne, and Plume Latraverse.   The importance of song in transmitting the message of independence cannot be underestimated because as Felix Leclerc said, "Le Québec est un pays divisé, sauf quand il chante" and also "Chante, et le Québec ne mourra jamais."

According to Tétu de Labsade,

                  La chanson est l’expression première d’une culture populaire, elle permet à la collectivité d’exprimer librement et de mille manières l’âme d’un peuple d’autant mieux que le peuple la comprend et y trouve ses forces vives. (p.338)

Québec went through a period of unease in the 1960’s with the advent of Le Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) which engaged in acts of violence – bombings, bank robberies, and in October 1970 with the kidnapping and death of Pierre Laporte, the Labor Minister.  Rather than win the support of the Québécois, those acts of violence shocked the people because throughout history the Québécois were pacifists who as far back as 1918 objected to and refused to be drafted into the armed forces.  They also refused to become involved in the Iraq War.

Six years after its foundation the Parti Québécois finally took power and began to make good on its promise to hold a referendum on the sovereignty issue which it did unsuccessfully in 1980.  The result was 59% against independence.  A second referendum in 1995 was once again defeated but by the narrow margin of 51% to 49%.

During those tumultuous years, Québec, although not independent, gained in stature and has proclaimed itself a separate and distinct province and in 1977 passed the Charter of the French Language a.k.a Law 101.  That Law proclaimed that Québec is a French society whose official language is French, and legislated it as the language of government, of education, of business, and of advertisement.  By proclaiming that Québec was a French society, the people were seeking social justice in their own land by guaranteeing the primacy of their language, power over their own affairs, and their right to deal independently with the other nations of the world.  It also recognized the principle that la langue est la gardienne de la culture.  According to Michel Venne,

Le principe de la souveraineté des peuples et des nations (la Chambre des communes, à Ottawa, vient tout juste de reconnaître que les Québécois forment une nation dans un Canada uni) est très largement appuyé par les citoyens du Québec.
 If not de jure, Québec is de facto a country and a culture.

Back to Top

Québécois French

Inevitably, when speaking of Québec, the question of the variety of French spoken there comes up and often with the sense that the Québécois speak a "bad" French.  Before making a judgment, it is important to examine the evolution of the French of Québec from the beginning to today.  Considering that Québec is a francophone island in an English ocean that has had to fight for its linguistic, religious, and cultural survival since France lost the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and that it was isolated from France for so many years while being surrounded on all sides by an anglophone culture, it’s a wonder that the French language survived.  For a while, it stood still, not undergoing the changes in pronunciation and in vocabulary that affected the French of France and keeping intact the French of those regions of France from where the settlers came.  According to Tétu de Labsade, "Québec a donc gardé de son long isolement quelques  mots qui ont totalement disparu de la France, ou ne sont conservés dans cet usage que dans certaines régions bien précises." (p.88)

Additions to the language were necessary to describe the flora and the fauna of their new land that did not exist in France.  They also incorporated Amerindian words spoken by the native population of the region.  As the population moved from the rural areas into the cities, English words from the factories and the mills where they worked became incorporated into the language with a French twist as well as English words from the daily broadcast of American TV shows, the Internet, and the influx of American entertainment culture.  Many Québécois (especially in Montréal) began to speak a variation of French and English called le joual which Tétu de Labsade (p.96) describes as "le joual semble très loin du français normatif  standard:  Il apparaît très anglicisé; il utilise un vocabulaire français pauvre puisqu’il s’y est substituté un vocabulaire anglais, il sert surtout à la communication orale." She further explains that

"C’est donc en ville que le contact entre le français rural et l’anglais industriel et commercial est le plus continu. Il en résulte un parler populaire—qu’on appellera le joual—à base syntaxique et lexical tout à fait française mais qui s’adjoindra pour les besoins de communication entre patrons et ouvriers un lexique, des expressions et des tournures anglaises. (pp.95-96)

At first, this phenomenon was confined to oral speech and  the written language maintained a stricter adherence to the rules of standard French that one would be hard pressed to say if the author were from France or from Québec.  Although authors such as Gratien Gélinas (Tit-Coq ,1948) and Louis Hémon (Maria Chapdelaine,1916)) had their characters speak in the everyday language of the French-Canadian, it was not until the Révolution tranquille of the 1960’s, that authors, such as Michel Tremblay expressly wrote in joual and singers such as Robert Charlebois and Plume Latraverse sang in joual as a sign of defiance and solidarity with the sovereignty movement.  Léandre Bergeron published dictionaries of the québécois language.  As an expression of national pride it had its effects locally but the outreach in the francophone world was limited because no one but the Québécois could understand it.  Great strides were made to improve the quality of the French language especially in the government, in the schools, in the media, and in literature.

A study conducted in 1997 and reported by de Villers revealed that the majority of words and expressions (77%) used in all the articles published in one year in the Québec daily Le Devoir were no different than the words and expressions used in the French daily Le Monde.  The Office de la langue française found that those words that were found only in Le Devoir could be divided into four categories:

1.     Québécismes originating in France represented only 8% of the words and expressions in daily use in Québec.

2.     Québécismes coined in Québec accounted for 68% of the words and expressions.

3.     Québécismes formed from borrowings from other languages accounted for 13%.

4.     11% were specialized words, non-specific to Québec French.

The difficulty that most Francophones from outside of Québec have when encountering a Québécois lies with the Québécois accent (which has many similarities with the accent of la Bretagne) and the use of joual in everyday speech.

An interesting by-product of the great influence the Catholic Church had on the Québécois is the fact that most swear words are variations of words relating to God, liturgy, sacraments, etc.  Scatological words or words relating to sex are rarely used, unlike in the USA.

As far as being "bad" or inferior French, all languages have a spoken form that conforms to the country in which it is spoken because of a variety of factors.  In fact, not every Frenchman in France speaks French exactly the same: there are regional accents, provincialisms, borrowed words from other languages, dialectical variations, levels of education, social class, etc.  French teachers should expose their students to the spoken and written language of the more than 6 million Québécois who use it proudly every day.

Back to Top

Québécois Culture

La révolution tranquille of the 1960s gave rise to a cultural as well as to a political transformation of Québec.  As the Québécois sought control over their own destiny, those cultural principles began to be developed in the writings of the authors, poets, singer-songwriters, dramatists, and cineastes of the day.  The contemporary literature and arts no longer mirrored that of France but echoed the thoughts and ideas that occupied the minds of the current generations.  They wrote and sang about what mattered to them.  Freed from the strict control of the Church and confident in their own political identity as French-speaking citizens of the world, they broke loose of the old constraints and developed new traditions.

Cultural traditions based on religion such as attending midnight mass at Christmas, celebrating one’s patron saint’s name day, the giving of gifts on the feast of Saint Nicholas, on New Year’s Day, or on the Epiphany have been gradually abandoned.  Other traditions such as the gathering of the eau de Pâques , or la bénédiction paternelle on New Year’s day are not practiced consistently throughout Québec, but are specific to certain villages and families.

La veille de Noёl is often celebrated by attending an early evening mass followed by le réveillon at someone’s house.  During this time traditional foods such as , les cretons, la tourtière, la dinde ou le poulet, la tarte au sucre ,and  la buche de Noёl are eaten followed by the opening of gifts.

La Sainte Catherine is celebrated on November 25 mostly in the elementary grades with the making and eating of la tire à mélasse Ste-Catherine.  That tradition began in the 1600s when Marguerite Bourgeois , who opened the first school for girls, made the tire to entice the young native American girls to attend school. 

Another tradition that continues is la Guignolée which is held at the beginning of December.  At that time, people from the town and/or social organizations solicite food and money donations from their neighbors to benefit the poor of the parish.

Le temps des sucres is also a popular tradition in rural Québec.  People go to the cabane à sucre during the springtime when the maples are running to partake in copious meals of fèves au lard, jambon, oreilles de crisse, soupe aux pois, tarte au sucre d’érable, and the ever delicious tire sur la neige.

Le poisson d’avril , which is like the American April Fool’s Day, is celebrated by playing tricks on others as we do in the USA.  However, sometimes those tricks involve pranks such as sticking a paper fish on someone’s back or making someone courir le poisson by sending him on a wild goose chase.

In September, at the corn harvest, it’s traditional to invite one’s neighbors, friends, and family over to help with les épluchettes de blé d’Inde.  The chore of shucking corn becomes a festive occasion with song, dance, games, and food.

Québec has its own set of national holidays or jours fériés.  The following are also jours chômés  (no work) for government employees:

• New Year’s Day (Jour de l’an): January 1
• Day after New Year’s Day (Lendemain du Jour de l’An): January 2
• Good Friday (Vendredi Saint)
• Easter (Pâques)
• Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques)
• National Patriots Day (Journée nationale des Patriotes): Monday before May 25
• Québec National Holiday (Fête nationale du Québec): June 24 (also called Fête de la Saint Jean-Baptiste)
• Canada Day (Fête du Canada): July 1
• Labor Day (Fête du Travail): First Monday in September
• Thanksgiving (Fête de l’Action de grâce): Second Monday in October
• Remembrance Day (Jour du Souvenir): November 11
• Day before Christmas (Veille de Noёl): December 24
• Christmas (Noёl): December 25
• Day after Christmas (Lendemain de Noёl): December 26
• New Year’s Eve (Veille du Jour de l’An) December 31

La journée nationale des Patriotes commemorates the 1837-1838 Patriot Rebellion against the British-influenced Canadian constitution which favors the English-speaking Canadians to the detriment of the French-speaking Canadians.  The Parti patriote wanted a constitution inspired by the American Revolution and advocated a complete break from the monarchy.  That early struggle for their rights is recognized by the grateful Québécois who established this holiday in 1937 "pour souligner l’importance de la lutte des patriotes de 1837-1838 pour la reconnaissance de notre nation, pour sa liberté politique et pour l’établissement d’un gouvernement démocratique."

La fête nationale du Québec, originally known as La Saint-Jean Baptiste, was established in 1977 to honor the patron saint of French-Canadians, so named by Pope Pius X in 1908.  This holiday originated with the first French colonists on June 23, 1636 on the banks of the St Lawrence River with a bonfire and five cannon shots.  The day took on a more patriotic tone after the failure of the Patriot Rebellion.  To this day, many towns celebrate la Saint-Jean Baptiste with the lighting of a huge bonfire in a public square or park.

Canada Day, a national holiday throughout Canada is celebrated in Québec mostly by the English-speaking population.  Any demonstrations by the Québécois tend to be in the form of protests against the federal government.

La fête de l’Action de grâce takes place a month before the American Thanksgiving Day because the harvest in Québec comes earlier than that in the USA.  It has also been a tradition since 1576, whereas Americans have given thanks since 1621.

For more information on les fêtes du Québec, consult www.rdaq.qc.ca.

Back to Top

Québécois Song

                    Félix Leclerc                                           Robert Charlebois                                   Gilles Vigneault

Par la chanson, le Québec se démarque rapidement de la France et acquiert une autonomie basée sur la simplicité et l’authenticité de cette manifestation populaire. 
Tétu de Labsade, p.325

Whenever a group of Québécois get together for a veillée, they will usually break out in song, often singing traditional songs in the form of la chanson à répondre.  According to Tétu de Labsade, when the first settlers arrived from France, they brought with them more than 50 thousand songs and over the years "les paroles sont changés et font allusion à des réalités québécoises". (p. 326)  Of the many types of songs, "la chanson à répondre est fréquemment utilisée à cause précisément du coté sociale des veillées où il est bon de faire participer tout le monde. (p. 328)  Because of the severity of the winter season and the fact that for many years the Québécois lived mainly a rural sort of life, the veillée was often the only form of entertainement available and song was a handy and cheap way to have fun.  The singing was also accompanied by dance such as the reel, the gigue, the ronde and the quadrille.

One of the first groups to popularize the chanson à répondre commercially is La Bottine Souriante from the Lanaudière region of Québec.  Essentially, in the chanson à répondre, the lead singer tells a story, sings the refrain and the rest of the group repeats the refrain.  Those songs are very seldom sad and reflect the everyday life of the people in an amusing way.  The rhythm is such as to make one tap one’s feet and want to dance.  It’s really the telling of a story in song.

In addition to traditional music, there has been a concerted effort to develop a unique Québécois music that is more than just the translation of American or British rock and roll or the imitation of French from France music.  The music seeks its own identity, proclaims its own value system, and in the words of Tétu de Labsade:

                  La chanson du Québec exprime aussi les sentiments de l’homme universel:
la solitude et ses remèdes qui ont nom tendresse, amour et amitié; l’individu,
aux prises avec une société qui refuse de le comprendre, qui réagit avec humour
et joie de vivre." (p. 337)

For a list of the more popular singers, please consult www.immigrer.com/page/Culture)Chansons

Back to Top

Facts about Québec

1. Alphonse Desjardins opened the first Cooperative Bank (Caisse Populaire) in 1900.
2. Women obtained the right to vote at the federal level in 1917 but in Québec not until 1940.
3. Québec adopted its flag le fleurdelisé in 1948.
4. Claire Kirkland-Casgrain was the first woman elected to the Assemblée nationale in 1961.
5. Québec nationalized the production of electricity in 1962 when it took over Hydro-Québec.
6. The Ministère de l’Education du Québec was created in 1964 and took the responsibility for education away from the church.
7. Montréal hosted the 1967 World’s Fair.
8. UNESCO grants World Heritage Status to the city of Québec in 1987.
9. Day care (les garderies publiques) cost only 7.00$ per day for children under 5 years of age after which they go to la maternelle.
10. K-12 private schools receive financial aid from Québec up to the rate of 80%.
11.  Unlike the rest of Canada and the USA, a high school graduate must attend a CEGEP in order to be admitted to a university.
12. University tuition in Québec is the lowest in Canada.
13.  At the birth of a child, one of the parents is entitled to one year paid maternity leave.
14. As in the rest of Canada, Québec has a National Health Insurance Plan.
15. The richer you are in Québec, the higher the taxes. Approximately 40% of Québécois pay no taxes.
16. As in the rest of Canada, Québec uses the metric system and gasoline is sold by the liter.

Québécois literature

Jean-Paul Desbiens                   Gabrielle Roy                                       Michel Tremblay

Prior to the 19^th century, the literature of Québec was closely associated with that of France as far as themes and stylistics were concerned.  There were many accounts of voyages to and explorations within the new world and of writings by religious such as Marguerite Bourgeois of their attempts to covert the Amerindians to Christianity.

True Québécois literature came about in the 19^th and 20^th centuries when the writings became more expressive of the conditions of life in Québec.  Issues of patriotism, of nationalism, of social justice, of religion and education began to roll off of the printing presses. 

Some of the notable writers of the 19^th century are Louis Fréchette, Octave Crémazie, Francois-Xavier Garneau, Emile Nelligan, and Lionel Groulx.

Some of the notable writers of the 20^th century and their most famous works are:

• Louis Hémon, Maria Chapdelaine (novel)
• Roger Lemelin, Les Plouffe (novel)
• Gabrielle Roy, Bonheur d’occasion(novel)
• Hector de Saint-Denis Garneau, Regards et jeux dans l’espace (poetry)
• Ringuet, Trente arpents (novel)
• Alain Grandbois, Les Iles de la nuit (poetry)
• Yves Thériault, Agakuk (novel)
• Jacques Brault, Mémoire (poetry)
• Réjean Ducharme, L’avalée des avalés (novel)
• Jacques Godbout, Salut Galarneau (novel)
• Michel Tremblay, Les Belles-Soeurs (theater)
• Anne Hébert, Kamouraska (novel)
• Michèle Lalonde, Speak White (poetry)
• Antonine Maillet, Pélagie-la-Charette (novel)
• Yves Beauchemin, Le matou (novel)

Literary Excerpts

Le Damned Canuck

[……….]

Ah sonnez crevez sonnailles de vos entrailles
Riez et sabrez à la coupe de vos privilèges
Grands hommes, classe écran, qui avez fait de moi
Le sous-homme, la grimace souffrante du cro-magnon
L’homme du cheap way, l’homme du cheap work
Le damned Canuck

[……….]

Gaston Miron, L’Homme rapaillé

La main du bourreau finit toujours par pourrir

Grande main qui pèse sur nous
grande main qui nous aplatit contre terre
grande main qui nous brise les ailes
                  grande main de plomb chaud
grande main de fer rouge
grands ongles qui nous scient les os
grands ongles qui nous ouvrent les yeux
                  comme des huîtres
[……….]

la grande main pourrira
et nous pourrons nous lever pour aller ailleurs.

Roland Giguère, L’Âge de la parole

Je veux vécrire

J’envisageais un projet d’envergure nationale, non mais, c’est vrai! nous devons, nous, Canadiens français, reconquérir notre pays par l’économie; c’est René Lévesque qui l’a dit.  Alors, pourquoi pas par le commerce des hots dogs?  Business is business.  Il n’y a pas de sot métier, il n’y a que de sots clients. Je ne suis pas séparatiste, mais si je pouvais leur rentrer dans le corps aux Anglais, avec des saucisses, ça me soulagerait d’autant.

Jacques Gadbout, Salut Galarneau

                   Réjean Ducharme                                   Gatien Lapointe                                   Emile Nelligan

Viens-tu aux vues avec moi?

Elle revient de très loin et lui demanda sur ce ton un peu distant qu’elle prenait pour parler aux clients:

                  "Allez-vous prendre un dessert?"

                  Jean se souleva à demi sur les coudes, carra ses fortes épaules et planta dans les yeux de la jeune fille un regard d’impatience et de gaminerie.

                  "Non, mais toi, tu m’as pas encore dit si je serais le lucky guy ce soir.  Tu y penses depuis dix minutes; qu’est-ce que tu as décidé?  Oui  ou non, viens-tu aux vues avec moi?"

                  Dans les prunelles vertes de Florentine, il vit déferler une colère impuissante.  Cependant elle abaissait déjà les paupières.  Et elle dit d’une voix tout à la fois fâchée, lamentable et qui voulait encore être conciliante:

                  "Pourquoi ce que j’irais aux vues avec vous, moi?  Je vous connais pas, moi!  Je sais-t-y qui vous êtes, moi!"

Gabrielle Roy, Bonheur d’occasion

Tout m’avale

                  Je suis seule.  Je n’ai qu’à me fermer les yeux pour m’en apercevoir.  Quand on veut savoir où on est, on se ferme les yeux.  On est là où on est quand on a les yeux fermés: on est dans le noir et dans le vide.  Il y a ma mère, mon père, mon frère Christian, Constance Chlore.  Mais ils ne sont pas là où je suis quand j’ai les yeux fermés.  Là où je suis quand j’ai les yeux fermés, il n’y a personne, il n’y a jamais que moi.

Réjean Ducharme, L’Avalée des avalés

Une maudite vie plate

LES QUATRES AUTRES.-    J’me lève, pis j’prépare le déjeuner!  Des toasts, du café, du bacon, des oeufs.
                  J’ai d’la misère que l’yable à réveiller mon monde.  Les enfants partent pour l’école, mon mari
                  s’en va travailler.

MARIE-ANGE BROUILLETTE- Pas le mien, y est chômeur.  Y reste couché.

LES QUATRES FEMMES- Là, là, j’travaille comme une enragée jusqu’à midi.  J’lave.  Les robes, les jupes,
                  les bas, les chandails, les pantalons, les canneçons, les brassières, tout y passe!  Pis frotte, pis
                  tord, pis refrotte, pis rince…C’t’écoeurant, j’ai les mains rouges, j’t’écoeurée.  J’sacre.  A midi,
                  les enfants reviennent.  Ça mange comme des cochons, ça revire la maison à l’envers, pis ça
                  repart!  L’après-midi, j’étends.  Ça c’est mortel!  J’hais ça comme une bonne!  Après, j’prépare
                  le souper.  Le monde reviennent, y ont l’air bête, on se chicane!  Pis le soir, on regarde la télé
                  vision!  Mardi!

Michel Tremblay, les Belles-Soeurs

Soir d’hiver

Ah! comme la neige a neigé!
Ma vitre est un jardin de givre.
Ah! comme la neige a neigé!
Qu’est-ce que le spasme de vivre
A la douleur que j’ai, que j’ai!
Tous les étangs gisent gelés,
Mon âme est noire.  Où vis-je?  où vais-je?
Tous ses espoirs gisent gelés:
Je suis la nouvelle Norvège
D’où les blonds ciels s’en sont allés […….]

Emile Nelligan, Oeuvres complètes

Cage d’oiseau

Je suis une cage d’oiseau
Une cage d’os
Avec un oiseau
L’oiseau dans sa cage d’os
C’est la mort qui fait son nid

[………..]

C’est un oiseau tenu captif
La mort dans ma cage d’os
Voudrait-il pas s’envoler
Est-ce vous qui le retiendrez
Est-ce moi
Qu’est-ce que c’est
Il ne pourra s’en aller
Qu’ après avoir tout mangé
Mon coeur
La source du sang
Avec la vie dedans
Il aura mon âme au bec.

Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, Regards et jeux dans l’espace

Ma langue est l’Amérique

Ma langue est d’Amérique
Je suis né de ce paysage
J’ai pris souffle dans le limon du fleuve
Je suis la terre et je suis la parole
Le soleil se lève à la plante de mes pieds
Le soleil s’endort sous ma tête
Mes bras sont deux océans le long de mon corps
Le monde entier vient frapper à mes flancs
[……..]

Gatien Lapointe, Ode au Saint-Laurent

Nos élèves parlent joual

                  Nos élèves parlent joual, écrivent joual et ne veulent pas parler ni écrire autrement.  Le joual est leur langue. [……]

                  Le joual est une langue désossée: les consonnes sont toutes escamotées, un peu comme dans les langues que parlent (je suppose, d’après certains disques) les danseuses des Iles-sous-le-Vent: oula-oula-alao-alao.  On dit: "chu pas apable", au lieu de: je ne suis pas capable; on dit "l’coach m’enweille cri les mit du gôleur", au lieu de: le moniteur m’envoie chercher les gants du gardien, etc. […….]

                  Cette absence de langue qu’est le joual est un cas de notre inexistence, à nous, les Canadiens français.  On n’étudiera jamais assez le langage.  Le langage est le lieu de toutes les significations.  Notre inaptitude à nous affirmer, notre refus de l’avenir, notre obsession du passé, tout cela se reflète dans la joual, qui est vraiment notre langue.

Jean-Paul Desbiens, les insolences du frère untel

Conclusion

Teachers of French are encouraged to introduce their students to Québec, our francophone neighbor to the north and to seek a sister school relationship with a CEGEP in the hopes of organizing homestay exchanges or e-pal relationships between the students.  Hopefully, this article will serve as a primer for those teachers who are unfamiliar with the history and the culture of the Québécois and motivate them to seek more information on their own.  In doing so, teachers will be implementing the Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities Strands of the Foreign Languages National Standards.

La bottine souriante

References

1.     De Villers, Marie-Eva.  "A Strong Desire for Continuance."   The French Language in Quebec:  400 Years of History and Life.  www.cslf.gouv.qc.ca/publications.

2.     "Journée nationale des Patriotes."  http://fr.wikipedia.org

3.     Laing, G.  "Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism."  The Canadian Encyclopedia. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com

4.     Mills, David.  "Durham Report."  The Canadian Encyclopedia. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com

5.     The French Language in Quebec:  400 years of History and Life.  www.cslf.gouv.qc.ca/publications.

6.     Tétu de Labsade, Françoise.  Le Québec: un pays, une culture.  Boréal/Seuil.  Québec.  1990

7.     Venne, Michel.  "Le Québec, laboratoire de l’altermondialisme?"  in  Koop, Marie-Christine Weidmann.  Le Québec à l’aube du nouveau millénaire.  Presse de l’Université du Québec. Québec.  2008.

Back to Top