1792: à main levée by Christian Blais et al. (review)

225 years after the first elections in Lower Canada, the Assemblée nationaleof Quebec invites readers to celebrate the anniversary of its democratic institutions in a collaboration of comics depicting the actors and events which formed the state structures known to Quebec today. The artistic approach is intertwined with another story—that of the first comic strip known to the French-speaking world, which was in fact a campaign poster entitled À tous les électeursused by Mathew Macnider and William Grant to convince the population to vote in favor of the marchandsrather than the avocatsin the 1792 elections (11). The fortuitous correspondence of birth years permits artistic interpretations of the themes relevant to the first elections in Lower Canada and the prevailing consequences in modern Quebec: the adoption of the French-speaking population of a British civic culture and political structure, the debate on language, and the emergence of ideals and values that increasingly distinguished the French-speaking population from their British context. The work additionally contains an intriguing history of the "ninth art," which complements the "Sources of Inspiration" chapter to demonstrate how the three comic strips collected in the book are embedded in a larger tradition of depicting dialogue and story through images and speech bubbles loyal to the landscape and language of the time. Indeed, the comics in this book are informed by earlier paintings and drawings of Lower Canadian society, and the speech in the bubbles is loyal to the diverse strains of French found in North America. The work as a whole raises the fundamental subject of British civic culture as the glue of nations within Canada and depicts an open-armed acceptance of this culture by the Francophone population. The optimism of this founding principle is all too clear in the statement of one character at the end of a scuffle at the voting booth: "Regarde-moi ces candidats qui s'affrontaient, ils font maintenant la fête main dans la main. Tous ces Anglais et ces Canadiens s'en vont boire ensemble sans distinction entre eux" (30). An ending such as this may seem laughable to some readers, notably in correlation with the ending of the comic illustrating the language debate, in which a little girl asks her brother if he thinks that Anglophones and Francophones will get along some day. "Tant qu'on sera pas encore pris dans 'même chicane dans 225 ans!" responds her brother (48). Indeed, the celebration of British parliament in Lower Canada is counterbalanced by this obvious commentary on the two stubborn solitudes of Canada. The chapter on the 92 Resolutions and following rebellions seems to turn to a more focused celebration of Quebec itself. It venerates the Reform Movement led by the Canadiens, which attempted to grant powers of government to the députés, a principle that is pivotal to modern parliamentary practices in the province. This work celebrates history and evolution. It is recommended for those intrigued by the beginnings of the Quebecois parliament.