1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«Across four generations, I trace the lives of two patrician families for continuity through the disruption of imperial conquest, of the American and French revolutions, of the challenges of seignerial land reform and legal codification, and of the decline of Anglicanism, and through the rise of such institutions as the state, legislative democracy, the university, and the nuclear family.» (p. 5)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Données documentaires diverses

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

L’auteur insiste à plusieurs reprises sur la stratégie du mariage, entre autres, utilisée par les familles Taschereau et McCord comme moyen de tisser des réseaux familiaux, mais surtout, comme moyen de développer leur sphère d’influence dans la société. «The heads of both families used in marriage arrangements, land stewardship, and judgeships to position their heirs. Young shows how patriarchy was a central force in both domestic and public life, as well as the ways in which Taschereau and McCord family strategies extended into the marrow of Quebec society through moral authority, influence on national identities, and their positions within senior offices in religious, judicial, and university institutions. Through courthouses, cemeteries, belfries, and their own chapels and neoclassical estates, they created encompassing cultural landscapes. Later generations used museums, archives, historian collaborators, photography, and modern print to elevate family achievement to the status of heroic national narratives.» (quatrième de couverture)