The Canadian Forum et La Nouvelle Revue canadienne la revue d'intérêt général et la communauté imaginaire

Abstract

The analysis of general interest magazines gives to researchers an important point of entry into the field of literary history. General interest magazines, because of wide range of subjects treated therein, permit the study of changes in several fields and even of the links between such fields. This polyvalent quality allows the study of the literature's importance and the interest that it is accorded; one may also evaluate the links that exist between literature and other spheres such as politics and economics. This thesis studies two general interest magazines, La Nouvelle Revue canadienne (1950-1956) andThe Canadian Forum (1920- ). Given that La Nouvelle Revue canadienne is published during six years, the period studied is limited to that of the beginning of the 1950's.The study of this period reveals important transformations regarding the orientation of both English and French Canadian literature. In French Canada, the humanist movement, dating from the 1930's, reaches the end of its influence. In English Canada, the modernist movement seeks to renew itself. Certain conceptions of literature are questioned at this time, a situation that represents a prelude to greater transformations that take place in the 1960's.The study of the 1950's leads to an analysis of the history of both French and English Canadian literatures and the establishment of a point of reference for the changes to come. Such an analysis makes possible a discussion of what Benedict Anderson calls the"imagined community." This thesis, through the analysis of La Nouvelle Revue canadienne andThe Canadian Forum , reveals that both groups wish to define their respective imagined community while permitting the comparison of the principal differences between such definitions.