Global Literatures 210: Quebec’s Quiet Revolution and the Making of a Bilingual Nation

French is the vibrant, official language of Quebec, a linguistic island in the English-speaking nation of Canada. For nearly 200 years, however, French-speaking people in Quebec were an oppressed minority under British rule. How did this linguistic minority overcome decades of exclusionary prejudice to affirm a collective identity?  In the Canadian context, the Quiet Revolution refers to a seminal period (the 1960s) of intense social, cultural and political development in Quebec, leading eventually to the election of a pro-sovereignty government and the declaration of French as the sole official language of the province. Literary and artistic production played a significant role in this movement, critiquing Canadian society, giving voice to Quebecois aspirations, and providing inspiration for linguistic minorities in places like Scotland and Catalonia. Study of dramatic, poetic, narrative, cinematic, polemical and theoretical works. Course taught in English; students who wish to do so may complete some readings in French. May be taken for credit toward the French and Francophone Studies major or minor.