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172 LETTERS IN CANADA 1988 he has seen in Canada, and from a 'much improved version of what used to be called hippies' to a very British Indian Army colonel (retired). It is characteristic that he likes them all, and characteristic that at the end as he prepares, not uncheerfully, to leave the forest for his city apartment with its 'two struggling Benjamina trees' he gives thanks for his two months there as 'a splendid gift, a time of silence in which to read, to write, to wander the edge of the forest and, in the depth of night, the heart of my own mental universe.' (ALLAN PRITCHARD) Maurice Lemire, editor. Dictionnaire des oeuvres litteraires du Quebec, tome v, 1970-5 Fides 1987. lxxix, 1133. $73.00 In a note on 'Les objectifs du DOLQ,' iri the introductory part of this volume, Maurice Lemire and his team ofnine editors state theirbeliefthat in the sixteen-year period required to put out the five volumes of this indispensable academic tool, they have achieved their two main goals: 'I'etablissement du corpus de la litterature quebecoise et sa plus grande accessibilite sous forme de dictionnaire.' There canbe no doubt thatin the main 'ce monument des lettres quebecoises' has indeed fulfilled its mandate, and volume v has given ample proof of this. Forty research assistants and some six hundred contributors have produced nearly nine hundred articles on 1,186 literary works in this last of a series that covers more than two hundred years of creative achievement. Let us note that the term 'literary,' as used by the editors of the DOLQ (as it has become known, affectionately), is a broad concept thatincludes works on history, philosophy, religion, cinema, and painting, as well as the more commonly and narrowly defined genres. As was the case with the earlier volumes, there is here a very useful 'Introduction ala litterature quebecoise (1970-1975)' of some sixty-five pages, with its subheadings ('Le contexte politique,' 'Le contexte culturel ') as well as its detailed overviews of the main genres ('Le roman, Ie conte et la nouvelle,' 'La poesie,' 'Le theatre,' 'L'essai,' 'Le discours de la critique litteraire surles oeuvres') and a section, 'Ecrire au Quebec,' which treats the professionalization of the writer and its attendant problems. The introduction has a nice analysis of what has become known as the 'Crise d'octobre,' the dramatic events ofthe fall of 1970, which, the editors contend correctly, influenced directly or implicitly, in 'mediated' form, many a creative work in the period under review. (In addition to the twelve works in these categories noted here, we found another twentyodd works in a variety of genres in the body of the Dictionnaire inspired to .one degree or another by the aforementioned incidents.) There is also a discussion of the rise of the Parti Quebecois, the language and tradeunion conflicts, and the emergence of feminism, and the impact of all HUMANITIES 173 these on the artistic sphere of activity. With regard to the last, it is noted that by 1975 almost half the novels published in Quebec were written by women, and Gabrielle Poulin, writing in the University of Toronto Quarterly on that year's output, is quoted to the effect that 'les meilleurs romans ... ont ete ecrits par des femmes.' The editors note that the first half of the 1970S shows no break with the trends established in the preceding decade ('Ie litteraire reste, abien des egards, rattache au social et au politique') and yet there is an intensification of formalist and theoretical concerns within the creative act: 'La reflexion sur Ie mecanisme de l'ecriture demeure un important courant de la periode.' Other significant developments are the regaining ot' favour for shorter literary forms and the flourishing of the fantastic and science-fiction categories. In addition, poetic production is marked by a noticeable counter-cultural current, while drama, including collective creations, reaches a 'vitalite sans precedent.' 'Le joual au theatre' merits a special discussion while its main proponent, Michel Tremblay, gets a subsection all to himself, although one that, happily, is not without a critical look at the ideological implications of his stage fictions. The non-fiction 'essai,' according to the...

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