QUéBéCOIS

A 'Québécois' (), or in the feminine 'Québécoise' (IPA: ), is a native or resident of the Canadian province of Quebec, but may also specifically refer to a French-speaking or French Canadian native or inhabitant of the province,^[1][2] or to someone who identifies with Quebec's French-speaking majority culture.
In English, 'Quebecer' or 'Quebecker' ( or ) is used to refer to any resident of Quebec, including English-speaking Quebecers or allophone natives or residents of Quebec.^[3]
With a lower-case initial, the word ''québécois'' is sometimes used to refer to Quebec French, a variant of the French language spoken by Quebec's population. As an adjective, it can refer to Quebec's francophone culture or population or the culture of French Canadians living in Quebec.
In French, ''Québécois'' refers to a native or any resident of Quebec or Quebec City. In a cultural context, it can also refer to a French Canadian living in Quebec, or, as an adjective, refers to French Canadian culture in Quebec.^[4][5][6]

Contents

Origin of name

Québécois nation

Usage

English usage

French usage

French expressions used in English

See also

References

Further reading

Origin of name

The term ''Québécois'' largely replaced ''French Canadian'' as an expression of cultural and nationalist identity among French Canadians in Quebec during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960's. Whereas the predominant French Canadian nationalism and identity of previous generations involved a pan-Canadian^[7] identity based on the protection of the French language, the Roman Catholic Church, and Church-run institutions all over Canada, the modern Quebecois identity would be secular and based on a social democratic ideal of the Quebec State promoting French Canadian culture and language in the arts, education, and business within the Province of Quebec. Politically, this resulted in a movement towards more autonomy and an internal^[8] debate on Quebec independence and the role of language that continues to this day.

Québécois nation

The "Québécois nation" was recognized in a near-unanimous motion of Prime Minister Stephen Harper adopted by the Canadian House of Commons on 27 November 2006. The motion proposed that ''"... this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada"'', with the Prime Minister specifying that he was using the ''"cultural"'' and ''"sociological"'' as opposed to the ''"legal"'' sense of the word ''"nation"''. The Prime Minister emphasized that the motion was of a symbolic political nature, representing no constitutional change, no recognition of Quebec sovereignty, and no legal change in its political relations within the federation.^[9] The Prime Minister has further elaborated, stating that the motion's definition of Quebecois relies on personal decisions to self-identify as Quebecois, and therefore is ambiguous, carrying no legal weight.^[8]

Usage

English usage

English expressions employing the term stress the distinction between the ethno-cultural and sociological sense of ''Québécois'' and the legal and civic sense of ''Quebecer'' or ''Quebec''.

★ ''Québécois people''

★ ''Québécois society''

★ ''Québécois nation''

French usage

★ ''Les Québécois et Québécoises'' (masculine and feminine genders) to include women when referring to Quebecers as a whole.

★ ''Le Québec aux Québécois'' - "Quebec for Québécois" - slogan often chanted at Quebec nationalist rallies or protests.

French expressions used in English

French expressions employing "Québécois" are often used in English. Here the sense of the word remains ambiguous.

★ ''Parti Québécois'' - Provincial-level political party that supports Quebec independence from Canada

★ ''Bloc Québécois'' - Federal-level political party that supports Quebec independence from Canada

See also

★ Culture of Quebec

★ Demolinguistics of Quebec

★ Scots-Quebecer

★ List of Irish Quebecers

★ French-Canadians

References

1. "Quebecois." ''Main entry. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition''
2. "Québecois." A.a. ''The Oxford English Dictionary Online''
3. "Quebecer." ''Main entry. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition''
4. "''Specialt.'' (répandu v. 1965). Du groupe ethnique et linguistique canadien français composant la majorité de la population du Québec. Littérature québécoise; cinéma québécoise."
5. There's no Quebec ‘nation'
6. La nation? Quelle nation?
7. The social-democratic nationalism: 1945 to today
8. Who's a Québécois? Harper isn't sure
9. House passes motion recognizing Québécois as nation
10. Who's a Québécois? Harper isn't sure
11. Charles Taylor, Reconciling Two Solitudes p. 141

Further reading

★ Céline Dion, the ADISQ Controversy, and the Anglophone Press in Canada, , David, Young, Canadian Journal of Communication,

★ Sans nous qui est Québécois ?

★ I am English Canadian

★ Trudeau's Legacy: A New Canadian Nationalism based on the Denial of the Québecois Heart of Canada, , Christian, Dufour, London journal of Canadian Studies,

★ The Effect of Recognizing the Québécois Nation, , Julius, Grey, Ameriquests,

★ ^[11]