Hemispheric Travel from Europe to las Américas: The Imaginary and the Novel in Québec and Canada

Abstract

Abstract: This article explores cross-cultural interactions in Canadian fiction in French and English, and delineates a hemispheric shift in the imaginaries of the literatures of Canada and Québec. Beginning with what are sometimes considered to be the “first” Canadian and Québécois novels, The History of Emily Montague by Frances Brooke and L’Influence d’un livre by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, fils , this article will argue that both were open to the “Other,” as represented by references to the opposing linguistic body (French or English). The article then provides a diachronic overview of texts published in English and French in Canada, and underlines both cross-cultural interactions (English-French) within the literatures of Canada and their fascination with Europe. This is followed by references to some late twentieth-century authors, whose work reveals the beginning of a shift in attitudes away from Europe and toward Latin America. The article ends with an in-depth analysis of a twenty-first-century novel, Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner , and the main thrust of the argument here is to unpack the diminishing importance of Europe and the increasing importance of Latin America for the contemporary literary imaginary.