Chanson et politique au Québec by Jacques Aubé (review)

HUMANlTIES 175 Revolution tranquille, encourageantavec Godbout la laicisation,etsurtout, . pour la premiere fois, pariant du Quebec comme une realite politique sans omettre de rappeler i'envahissement des universitaires avec Iesyrnpathique prince Andre Belleau. Quant aChantal de Grandpre, elle raconte I'analyse que fait Libertide la litterature americaine, en insistant tout particulierementsuri'intraduisible, Ie non-traduit et la retraduction d'Emily Dickinson. Enfin, Madeleine Ducrocq-Poirier, I'ame de ce colloque, fait de I'excellente histoire litteraire en nous brossant un tableau plein de reflexions pertinentes des Rencontres quebecoises internationales des ecrivains. Elle souligne entre autres I'importance de celles-ci pour la diffusion de la litterature quebi'coise a i'etranger. Bref, un beau colloque bien edite! Retenons-en la derniere phrase de Fran~ois Hebert: 'Liberliest une amitie, une confiance, une complicite. C'est un colloque en soi.' (CECILE CLOUTIER) Jacques Aube. Chanson el politique au Quebec Editions Triptyque. 135. $14.95 paper In many ways the 1970S were the 'golden age' for the political involvement of Quebecois singer/songwriters (les chansonniers), a period of intense creativity linked to various nationalist and social movements of the time. By means of benefit concerts, dozens of the best-known singers and singer/songwriters gave their time in order to raise funds for political prisoners, the struggle for Quebec independence, imprisoned labour leaders, and other social issues. Perhaps, more than any other factor, songs helped to make Quebec and its national struggle known beyond the borders of the province. It is this decade in particular, from the October Crisis of 1970 to the Referendum of 1980, that author Jacques Aubi' seeks to bring to life in his study of the political and social involvement of Frenchspeaking singer/songwriters. Chanson el politique au Quebec can be divided into two main parts. After a brief review of the literature on the subject in chapter 1, the author presents a shortsynthesis of politicalsongwritingfrom the beginning ofthe French regime until the late 1960s. In a second part (chapters 3 and 4), after mentioning the main political events of the period, he studies in greater detail the political involvement of the French-languagesinger/ songwriters of the 1970S through their various public performances, aiming not only to study the events of that decade but to link these events with the political songwriting of previous generations. As he condenses three hundred years of political songwriting, Aubi' seeks to lay the groundwork for the main part of his thesis. The reader learns that during the French regime, despite occasional opposition to 176 LEITERS IN CANADA 1990 specific government measures, music tended to reflect popular support for the French administration. A second period, from 1760 until about 1820, reflected the support that the elite tended to give to the colonial authorities. At the time there were few examples of political music coming from the people that might show opposition to the ruling elites. In the third period (1820 until about 1840), we find a number of examples of political songs that clearly supported the moderate and more radical positions of those French Canadians who stood in opposition to the English colonial authorities. Later, after the defeat of the Patriotes, political songwriting is referred to as being largely clerical/patriotic, reflecting the conservatism and religious influences thatlasted until well into the 1920S. Only gradually does songwriting begin to reflect the populism of the working class concentrated in the expanding urban centres. In his final section on the history of political songwriting, covering the period from the Second World War until ti)e late 1960s, Aube attempts to bring out the rising consciousness of the 1940S and 1950S and the final emergence of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. He shows that parallel to these rapid social and economic changes there emerge original cultural forms that reflect the new Quebecois identity. Without always clearly linking the evolution in songwriting to the new forms of Quebecois nationalism, Aube does manage to demonstrate that the two influenced each other. It is dangerous to attempt to sum up three hundred years of political music in thirty-four pages, and though Aube gives an idea of what went on before, his overview tends to remain superficial, constructed...