Quebec and Other Lessons In How Not To Be Progressive

This monolingualism ideal/goal that Quebec seems to be holding on so tightly to is a topic that I find really interesting because this situation seems to be the only one of its kind in the world. (I think the French have out-frenched themselves here in terms of being so frenchy so chic different!) I decided to dig a little deeper and talk about why they are so intense about being a monolingual province, with the idealistic aim of cutting out english all together. In an earlier blog post I touched on what they've done to the Quebecers to enforce this monolingual goal, but I want to explore behind the scenes a bit further.

Upon asking Google and his educated mate, Google Scholar, about Quebec, I came across this wiki-lookalike article which, to be honest, reads a little like propaganda. It states that Quebec is strong enough for independence economically, refers to Quebec as a unified 'nation', and that 'the relative security and stability of Quebecer French is directly attributable to Quebecers' will to protect their national language and resist the consequences of Québec's position inside Canada'. There are many sites like this on the web that are starkly pro Quebec's independence.

These articles, written by the staunch separatists, paint the English language in such a negative light that its driving a huge portion of the English speaking members of the Quebecer community away into other towns like, for example, Calgary, where today, the immigrant population (including those from other provinces within Canada) overtakes the local population to form the majority. Unfortunately for them, this only helps the sovereignists in their plight to win the battle and achieve world provincial domination.

Quebec, The Dutiful Daughter of The European Motherland? Computer Says No, France.

A common misconception of Quebec is that, in keeping with its staunch french language and culture theme, it has close ties with France and all that is French Culture. This, unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on who you talk to) is actually a common misconception between France and Quebec, where in actual fact there are many cultural differences that make a seamless working relationship relatively unattainable.

Because Quebec has gone from being French to British so many times over the past few hundred years, there was at some point a time where the quebeckers started to develop their own culture and way of living, a mélange of the two if you will. Many French say that the average Quebeckers hold themselves differently to the way of the average French person, and also has different social interactions/cues when talking in a relaxed conversation.

Similarly, even though they are speaking the same language, often times the French and the Quebeckers have trouble understanding each other, because the Quebecker's French has derived so much from the Canadian/American influence of its strong accent.

Quebeckers, I have found over my research throughout the semester, are also very proud that they, as a province, have held on to the French language, but at the same time are happy that they are in no way connected too much to the French.

The Quebeckers like being from Quebec and being able to call themselves Quebeckers and there are so many factors that define them as a nation that go so much further past 'language'. France and Quebec, naturally do have political ties, but they are no where near as intense nor comprehensive as people might have been led on to assume or believe.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me the Quebecois.

Ah Quebec.. stubborn, little Quebec. In what would seem an increasingly monolingual, standardised and globalised word, Quebec is like a child refusing to let go of its play toy when it comes to the French language. Now there's pride in your heritage, and then there is plain defiance.

Since the Parti Quebecois won a minority in September 2012, there have been increasing reminders that French should reign supreme in the language department in the small province, with the help from the OQLF. As an example, there were 60 signs erected around Anglophone schools in Montreal telling drivers to slow down, and the OQLF and its squad were ordered to take them down and replace them with their french counterparts. Similarly, all advertisement signs have to be in French, and if english was present it has to be at least 50% smaller than the french words. Also, a lot of international brands have had to accommodate these excessive laws if wanting to trade in Quebec. For example KFC is now PFK (poulet frit Kentucky), even though in other French speaking countries, France included, it is still KFC.

Similarly, Quebec is one of the only places in the world to have translated the red STOP signs to its French equivalent. 

The few Quebecer's I have met over the course of my life have all corrected me when I say 'Oh! Cool so you're canadian?!' Usually this question is met with the response 'Um no, I'm a Quebecker….' Which just goes to show the how incredibly the population can be- even the supposedly left wing students! The internet is positively plagued by propaganda-like literature written by and for the province of Quebec. These biased 'academic' articles use irrelevant metaphors and so-called 'precedents' (for example somehow making an incredibly vague connection between the Jews and Israel to the French Canadians and Quebec) to back up their idea that Quebec is a nation and  should be completely separate from the rest of english speaking Canada, and with it, eventually any form of the english language. 

Bienvenue!

Welcome, dear readers, to my blog.

The URL is a bit of a play on the french/english thing. 'Quebecains' is what I would imagine an english person would (wrongly) assume the Quebecois call themselves in French.

This is a nice segue into my topic for this blog, which focuses on the ins and outs of the french vs english speaking world in Quebec.

Enjoy et bienvenue!

Georgia x