Page / Quebec Studies / University of Leicester

A Bibliographical Afterthought .

It is often particularly fascinating and rewarding to approach a subject obliquely, from a less obvious direction. Here are eight examples of books which could well enable you to do just that with regard to the society and culture of Quebec. Each study, then, is valuable for the light it sheds on a specific topic, but each also opens up different and exciting pathways for you as you seek to come to an understanding of what makes Quebec distinct.

Robert Bernier, Un Siecle de peinture au Quebec. Nature et paysage, Les Editions de l'homme, 1999, 351 pp.
This beautifully illustrated book is a vibrant introduction to the rural and urban landscape of Quebec and to how the province's painters have responded to it over the last century. All the major artists - Borduas, Gagnon, Hébert, Lemieux, Morrice, Fortin, Holgate, Riopelle - are represented, along with many more who are less well known.

John Collins, Montreal Memories of the Century from the Sketchbooks of John Collins, Shoreline, 2000, 113 pp.
Collins was formerly editorial cartoonist of the Montreal Gazette. This collection of his sketches evokes a now distant past but also relates to a Montreal that is still recognizable.

John Gilmore, Swinging in Paradise: the Story of Jazz in Montreal, Montreal, Vehicule Press, 1988, 322 pp.
It is not only jazz enthusiasts who should read this book for it makes an important contribution to the social history of Montreal, providing new perspectives on, for example, the history of the city's black community or Mayor Drapeau's campaign against organised crime and vice since Prohibition. A particularly gripping chapter on free jazz enriches our understanding of the turbulent political agitation of the sixties and seventies.

J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, U. of Toronto Press, 1979, 204 pp.
Though of German background, Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-72) spent much of his adult life as an observer and recorder of life in Lower Canada/Quebec, and his prolific paintings - works of art in their own right - are significant historical documents of Canadian society during the nineteenth century.

Bill Marshall, Quebec National Cinema, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001, 371 pp.
This major study examines the role played by the cinema in Quebec's view of itself as a nation. A survey of mostly fictional feature films, it shows how Quebec cinema has evolved over the last thirty years or so and explores, with insight and understanding, 'the faultlines of Quebec identity'.

Peter Moogk, Building a House in New France, Markham (Ontario), Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2002, 156 pp.
This is a new edition of what has become a classic study of early Canadian architecture, first published in 1977. It demonstrates how materials, climate, customs and legal requirements helped shape the distinctive buildings of New France and, at the same time, it helps us understand what life was really like for the early settlers. As Professor Moogk himself comments: 'more than a house was being built, a cultural nation was being built.'

L'Hôtel Grove, Beaconsfield. C'est Paul-Urgèle Valois, descendant de Jean-Baptiste Valois, qui fonda le village de Valois en 1723, qui a construit ce beau batiment en 1810. Celui-ci est situé sur le lac Saint-Louis, le long de la route qui reliait autrefois Montréal à Toronto. La façade est de pierre de taille, les autres murs en moellons. L'édifice abrite présentement le Yacht Club de Beaconsfield.
This fine building was built in 1810 by Paul-Urgele Valois, a descendant of Jean-Baptiste Valois who founded the village that bears his name in 1723. It is on the old road between Montreal and Toronto. It is built of stone with the facade alone graced with dressed stone. It now houses the Beaconsfield Yacht Club.

Raymond Plante (ed), Une enfance en noir et blanc, 400 Coups, 2002, 96 pp.
Celebrates 50 years of TV in Quebec. 20 or so writers, journalists, and artists relate their childhood experience of TV, providing a (nostalgic) glimpse of the medium in Quebec

Norbert Spehner, Le Roman policier en Amérique francaise, Québec, Alire, 2000, 418 pp.
This volume will be of immense value to those interested in the detective novel and Quebec literature in general, but it will also also provide a great deal of insight into trends in Quebec's popular culture. It incorporates an excellent critical study and a detailed recensement of the polars published in Canada.

Christopher Rolfe