1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«Contemporary Québec writers have turned [the] traditional family paradigms upside down in many ways. Much of their thinking has focused on notions of bastardy, legitimacy and recognition and, in this article, I will look at innovative ways in which they have rethought these concepts, criticized the father’s abusive power and put the right to grant legitimacy into the hands of the child, thereby reversing the traditional power that operates within the family and in society.» (p. 125)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
The author uses a literary body of work in Quebec including Le sexe des étoiles by Monique Proulx, Le coeur découvert by Michel Tremblay, La rivière du loup by Andrée Laberge and La conjuration des bâtards by Francine Noël.

Type de traitement des données :
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

The author concluded that «[t]hough there are clear parallels with social trends—changing families, the elimination of illegitimacy as a legal category, the rise of children’s rights—works of art do not shed direct light on social change or the lack thereof. Still, the fact that so many contemporary Québec writers and filmmakers (Saint-Martin 2009) are rethinking the family is definitely the sign of a social ‘moment’ characterized by both uncertainty and unusual creativity. Change, of course, generates anxiety: in some circles, it rallies voices calling for a return to tradition, in others, it is embraced and even celebrated: ‘si un ordre se dissout, ce n’est pas le chaos, c’est une danse qui s’invente’ (Prokhoris 20) [...]. Some writers condemn the father; many reinvent him in various guises. The texts I have mentioned, and many others, rethink the family in new and sometimes troubling, often exciting, ways. What the father loses in patriarchal power, he stands to gain in love and recognition.» (p. 134-135)