Writing Contemporary Québec: The Quest for an Intertextual Identity in the Work of Roxanne Bouchard. Issue 2 (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bolfek-Radovani, Jasmina
• Is Part Of: Nottingham French studies. Volume 55:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 209
• Page End: 223
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: intertextuality -- identity -- orality -- rural Québec -- Québécois contemporary writing -- Roxanne Bouchard; French literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 840
• DOI: 10.3366/nfs.2016.0149
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0029-4586

Abstract

Abstract : As the young Québécois author Roxanne Bouchard revealed in a 2010 interview, the search for an 'identité intertextuelle' is at the centre of her writing project. In this article, I will begin with a contextualization of the notions of intertextuality and identity within the Canadian francophone and Québécois literary, social and political space. This will be followed by an analysis of two of her novels – Whisky et paraboles (2005) and Nous étions le sel de la mer (2014). I will argue that Bouchard uses the intertextual devices of quotation and plurilingualism to generate space and identity in her novel writing. I will show how Bouchard's first novel gives rise to a tension between the paradigms of survival and rupture, whilst in her latest book she introduces a sociolinguistic dimension to her writing through the immersion of written language in the sounds of Québec's spoken language varieties. I will conclude that Bouchard remains preoccupied with re-writing contemporary rural space in search for a contemporary Québécois cultural identity engaging with orality.