THE ENGLISH FACT IN QUEBEC.
Arnopoulos, Sheila McLeod and Dominique Clift.
2d ed. Kingston, McGill-Queen's University Press, c1984. 247pp, paper, ISBN 0-7735-0413-3 (cloth) $30.00, 0-7735-0414-1 (paper) $9.95. Distributed by University of Toronto Press. CIP
Volume 13 Number 1
With the publication of a second edition, Arnopoulos and Clift make available to the public a concise but probing analysis of the English-French relations in Quebec. The authors present Quebec in a historical context, but spare the reader a multitude of details that may interest the historian but are of little consequence to the lay reader. Their ability to expose the underlying motives and attitudes of the English and French communities' actions toward each other gives their work outstanding value. Tracing the conflicting values of the two language groups from the seigneurial system to the present time, the authors show the reader the same pattern of behaviour consistently expressed throughout the history of Canada, The authors expose the root causes of such behaviour and show how these have influenced the tension between English and French. Quebec today is the sum of the historical relations between its two major language groups. In conclusion, the authors offer a challenge and a hope for the development of this most dynamic province: The determining factor in the English community's ability to survive in a French environment—and French society's ability to survive in the North American context-will be the abandonment of closed and rigid cultural personalities. This means acceptance of mutual influence and of the possibility of ultimately becoming a new society altogether. Arnopoulos and Clift analyse the clever solution the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal has found to maintain survival and even growth under the Parti Québécois government's educational policy. This work is easy reading: together with good margins and clear, large print, the book contains a well-developed table of contents. Each of the thirteen chapters is briefly summarized under three major divisions: "Historical Perspectives," "The Present," and "Perspectives For The Future." All footnotes are listed in a special chapter, together with a welcome selection of bibliographic essays. The reader is provided with a valuable chronology of Quebec's history, eleven demographic tables showing the spread of the English and French communities in the province, and a detailed index at the end. Those involved in the teaching profession will find this work well suited to their pedagogical methods and to any course in Canadian history or human relations. This reviewer was impressed by the clarity and simplicity with which the authors articulate the past and present state of la belle province.
Kenneth A. Elliott, Laval Catholic High School, Chomedey, Que. |
1971-1979 | 1980-1985 | 1986-1990 | 1991-1995
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