Antonine Maillet / 1: Breaking the Silence of Centuries

Abstract

“Globe-trotting scrubwoman has the jitters. She’s entertained Princess Grace but now she must face the English.” - The Gazette, 3 March 1979. “Corver ou pas corver, c’est là la grosse affaire.” - La Sagouine. One is reminded of the film My Fair Lady, adored by millions of Americans who have never heard of George Bernard Shaw and who would be appalled to discover the man’s real political beliefs. That La Sagouine has brought notoriety to Antonine Maillet at the expense of a more considered, general acceptance of her other plays is something for which neither she nor the actress Viola Léger should be blamed. It does, however, oblige us to provide a brief account of that play’s rise to fame before moving on to a broader treatment of Maillet’s theatre and Its critical reception. A history of the 600 or so performances of La Sagouine which preceded the English-language production at Montreal’s Saidye Bronfman Centre in 1979 would Itself comprise a book; suffice it to say that its genesis as a play underscores Maillet’s preoccupations as an Acadian and a woman, and contradicts her methods as a novelist who successfully “transposes” for the theatre.