Franco-American Writers: In-visible Authors in the Global Literary Market

Abstract

As Armand Chartier concluded more than two decades ago, Franco American literature is on the boil (1991), yet, unlike other ethnic or postcolonial writers,1 Franco-American writers2 do not seem to be marketing ‘commodities’; they are rather the victims of an increasingly global market in cultural goods. And contrary to other writers from ethnic minorities, such as African Americans or Hispanics who can participate in the marketing of their marginality, they are scarcely in a position to participate in the marketability of Franco-American self-consciousness. Except for a handful of writers such as Jack Kerouac, Grace Metalious, Cathie Pelletier, Robert Cormier or David Plante, who are no longer considered as French Canadian or Franco-American when recognized on the literary market, and are mostly published by mainstream pub- lishing houses, most New England Franco-American writers operate on a regional scale and have found few venues for their works. As a matter of fact, the works of Camille Lessard Bissonnette, Gerard Robichaud, Denis Ledoux, Rhea Côté Robbins, Grégoire Chabot or Normand Beaupré have not reached such fame as to transcend their place of production. Franco-American literature is faced with yet another issue: i.e. classification or registration. Depending upon whether Franco-American writers write in French or in English, they obviously belong to different categories, which certainly partake in hindering their unity and visibility.KeywordsEthnic IdentityLiterary ProductionInstitutional MechanismSmall LiteratureAmerican WorkThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.