Rompre pour se retrouver : lecture comparée de quatre romans canadiens d'expression anglaise et française

Abstract

The following pages offer a comparative reading of four novels from Canadian and Québécois authors: Bodily Harm by Hargaret Atwood, Une histoire américaine by Jacques Godbout, The Book of Eve by Constance Beresford-Howe and Le premier jardin by Anne Hébert. These four novels were published between 1973 and 1988, and in each of them the major plot takes place in that same period of time. […] Bodily Harm was published in 1981. It expresses an ironie point of view on what bas become of the ideals of the flower generation of the seventies and of the feminists. It depicts the horror of violence in relationships between men and women, parents and children, and also encountered daily in Third World countries. It also describes the difficulties of couples in establishing meaningful relationships. ThP Book of Eve, published in 1973, criticizes very clearly middle-class values. It affims the right of women to liberate themselves from the bondage of their family life and find their autonomy. It also celebrates life as it can be lived fully in old age. Le premier jardin, published in 1988, explores the origins of the French colony in Canada and as such reflects the need to determine a national identity. It also stresses very clearly the predominant role of women in the creation of that colony and as such expresses a feminist point of view. A. Hébert’s novel also deals with the young generation and their preoccupation with a "planetary consciousness". Une histoire américaine, published in 1986, depicts from the point of view of an insider the evolution of the nationalistic movement up to the period following the referendum of 1980. It looks at the disillusion of the early eighties and at the intellectuel adventure of a middle-aged man looking for new ideals in the American culture and discovering the American nightmare. These novels will be studied in pairs. In Bodily Harm and Une histoire américaine, the heroes travel to a foreign country to forget their problems. They undertake a journey into the horror of political violence and go through a number of ordeals before returning to normal life. A "sentimental guide" shows them the way to their salvation. The heroines of The Book of Eve and Le premier jardin are aging women who leave their homes in order to find a part of themselves they have lost. Their journey into Hell takes the form of a solitary return to significant events of their past. […]