Les enfants de la Grande Noirceur: le nationalisme dans la littérature jeunesse des années 1930-1950
Date
2024
Authors
Grenier, Pascale
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Victoria
Abstract
This project analyses a sample of popular children's novels circulating in schools during the Grande Noirceur period in Quebec, to identify the main ideologies taught to primary school children, children in the 1930s and 1950s. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which Indigenous peoples and women are described, as well as to how French-Canadian patriotism is valued through language and catholicism. The texts chosen are historical novels written by women authors, illustrating how patriarchal ideology was punctured in women and their traditional role as educators for children in Quebec nationalism. In the end, it seems that the ideologies conveyed in children's literature are similar to those of the "littérature du terroir", which aimed to counter the rural exodus of French Canadians and promote peasant life and conservative ideologies.
Description
Keywords
francophone studies, children's literature, Québec history, Québec nationalism