French Literature Reviews - 2026

The Imaginary Italies of Quebec
Other Literary Studies

Carla Fratta and Élisabeth Nardout-Lafarge (eds.), Italies imaginaires du Québec, Montreal, Fides (coll. Nouvelles études québécoises), 2003, 246 p.
ISBN: 2-7621-2406-9

Back cover:

Whether serving as a key artistic reference point or a stake in political discourse, Italy—both the affluent destination of pilgrims and travelers and the impoverished homeland of immigrants—has long played a part in Quebec's cultural life. The texts collected here trace this presence from the era when the clergy sought to turn Montreal into a new Rome up to the present day. Exploring the contours of an imaginary construction of Italy as manifested in literary texts and other artistic works, these essays more broadly examine how these invented Italies contribute to Quebec's identity discourse.

Table of Contents:

Élisabeth Nardout-Lafarge and Carla Fratta, The Invention of Italy

Robert Melançon, Five Hundred and Five Zouaves and a Red Shirt: On the Image of the Risorgimento in 19th-Century French Canada

Pierre Rajotte, Italy in 19th-Century Quebec Travel Writing: Between Myth and Reality

Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, "There is a poetic charm in the mere name, Italy!" Edmond de Nevers and His *Lettres de Venise et de Rome* (1890–1891)

Bruno Ramirez, Italians and Quebecers

Nicole Deschamps, The Italy of Alain Grandbois

Gilles Dupuis, From Invention to Fabrication: The Italian Referent in Hubert Aquin and Normand de Bellefeuille

Anna Giaufret-Harvey, Quebec Between Columbus, Cabot, and Capone: From Founding Myth to Ducharmean Epic

Carla Fratta, How to Destroy a Myth Through Parody: Marie-José Thériault's *Quatre sacrilèges en forme de tableaux*

Anna Paola Mossetto, Pauline Harvey: "Why Not Italy Now?"

Pierre L'Hérault, The Italo-Quebecer Intervention in the Reshaping of Quebec's Identity Space

Élisabeth Nardout-Lafarge, Omertà: The Traffic in Clichés

Anne de Vaucher Gravili, Dante and Italy in the Textual Landscape of Marie-Claire Blais

Appendix: Bologna in 1819, Text by Msgr. Joseph-Octave Plessis, introduced and annotated by Robert Melançon

The representation of foreign lands as symbolic mirrors is a recurring theme in the study of national identity. In Quebec, the relationship with Italy has historically included the religious idealization of a new Rome and the social realities brought by migration. This volume examines how these perceptions contribute to Quebec's identity discourse, tracing this presence from the era when the clergy sought to turn Montreal into a new Rome up to the present day. Readers interested in the intersection of travel writing and national myth-making may find these analyses of Quebecois identity discourse relevant.

The essays in this collection explore how the Italian referent has been utilized across different eras, from the 19th-century fascination with the Risorgimento to the deconstruction of stereotypes in contemporary works by authors such as Hubert Aquin and Marie-Claire Blais. By examining the shift from idealized visions to the lived experiences of immigrants, the contributors highlight the role of literature in exploring how these invented Italies contribute to Quebec's identity discourse. This approach demonstrates how external references are reconfigured to address internal social questions, political stakes, and the evolving literary landscape of Quebec.