Abstract
This article discusses the intercultural concepts conveyed in the essay Place Cliche by Jacques Godbout. The elaboration centers on how the narrator-actor “I” position himself in facing two cultures. This paper shows how the concepts related to interculturalism are elucidated within the text, especially through the narrator-actor “I”. The identity of the narrator that intertwines with two cultures, French and American, is discovered by exposing the symbols that represent the two cultures. The French and American culture that become a part of the intercultural condition is represented in the stereotypes found in the narrator’s focalization and the textual structure. Intercultural concepts such as hybrid identity and in-between identity will be found in the construction of the narrator’s identity. The presence of those cultural factors becomes the foundation that constructs the hybrid identity of narrator-actor “I” which is the Quebec identity (Quebecois). The aforementioned findings are acquired through cultural studies theories of Homi K. Bhabha and Stuart Hall. The method that is utilized is a qualitative method with critical discourse analysis theories by Teun van Dijk and semiotics by Roland Barthes. Keywords: francophone literature; hybridity; identity; interculturalism
Highlights
Quebec is a part of Canada that holds a different cultural identity to those of other provinces in the country
The essay Place Cliché differentiates itself from other literary works themed interculturalism by portraying a character that actively tries to understand the influencing cultures, cultural elements became a big part of the discussion
The essay is contextualized to the experience of a Québécois who experiences cultural hybridity in ways different from the Italian immigrant in Le Figurier Enchanté and from the nuance of the Speak White poem
Summary
Quebec is a part of Canada that holds a different cultural identity to those of other provinces in the country. Quebec is essentially a part of Canada, the essay Place Cliché elaborates many factors of the Quebec society identity by portraying the influences of French and American culture. The Quebec society has been known to experience marginalization in multiple aspects such as economy and politics This has created conflict that ensued from ideas of separation and overall struggle with imbalanced plurality. A study that discusses hybridity and interculturalism in Quebec’s culture was previously done upon a text by Marco Micone, Le Figurier Enchanté It specifies the same cultural phenomenon, this study is centered around the identity of an Italian immigrant in Quebec, as opposed to the Quebec society themselves. With the presence of the two different cultures, this article focuses on elaborating the cultural factors that construct the narrator’s identity in the essay, Place Cliché by Jacques Godbout. This article will uncover the position the narrator, given the presence of two cultures and elaborate on how cultural elements construct the narrator’s identity
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