Published July 23, 2024

Over half of anglos consume some French cultural content, study finds

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

A recent study by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) has indicated that contrary to popular belief, the majority of English-speaking Quebecers are interested in and engaged with francophone Quebec culture – 55 per cent reported they were “interested in French-language cultural products, such as books, music, film or television” and nearly 60 per cent had attended French-language artistic and cultural events in the past year such as shows, festivals and exhibitions.

CBC Radio Quebec AM host Julia Caron and Montreal Gazette arts and culture reporter Brendan Kelly and columnist Toula Drimonis have spent much of their careers trying to bridge the linguistic divide using culture. “As an anglo Greek Quebecer, I’m doing myself a disservice if I don’t take advantage of everything going on,” Drimonis said. “If you do choose to opt out of French literature and French culture, you’re opting out of a large part of what it means to be a Quebecer. Having said that, the government often uses the proverbial stick to get people interested in French language and culture, and if you’re beating something into people, they’re going to tell you to f**k off. It’s important for me to showcase French Quebec culture in a non-confrontational way.”

Growing up in Montreal’s West Island in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Kelly watched “a very English world” become increasingly bilingual. “The English lady at Eaton’s is a thing of the past,” Kelly said, referring to a decades-old trope of a Montreal department store saleswoman refusing to serve clients in French. “Today’s anglophones mostly speak French and many work in French at least some of the time, but what has lagged behind a little is cultural engagement.

“Historically, our feeling has been that anglophones would not pay that much attention to francophone culture – if I went to a Karkwa or Daniel Bélanger concert, there would maybe be one other English person, but if I went to a show by an English artist, there would be about half English speakers and half French speakers,” Kelly said. “I always thought that was kind of bizarre – the majority of people in the province are francophones and living in Quebec, you have access to this vibrant culture – why wouldn’t you want to know what was going on culturally? It’s an important public service to cover this stuff.”

While he acknowledges that most articles on French-language films and bands “aren’t going to be the ones with the most clicks,” he takes pride in his coverage of the emergence of filmmakers Denis Villeneuve, Xavier Dolan and the late Jean-Marc Vallée, and of the outpouring of grief after the passing of Les Cowboys Fringants lead singer Karl Tremblay last year – a “major cultural moment” that English Canadians could share in thanks to his moving Gazette obituary, which drew parallels between Tremblay and the late Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip.

Drimonis wrote a similarly moving tribute to Chilean-born francophone novelist Caroline Dawson, which inspired a Globe and Mail feature. “I was appalled that no other English media outlet wrote about an author who I thought was brilliant,” she said.

Caron regularly brings francophone artists onto her popular morning show. “I’m always impressed by how willing people are to speak on the radio in their second language early in the morning!” she said.

She pointed out that the CBC once devoted stand-alone programs – such as Quebec Now and C’est la vie – to connecting English audiences to francophone culture. “I don’t want to be the only person do- ing this, but it’s hard with the shrinking media landscape,” she said. “There is still a lot to do.”

At a recent Quebec City show by crossover star Elisapie, an Inuk singer-songwriter who is fluent in French and English but performs mostly in Inuktitut, Caron was buttonholed by a listener who said they had discovered the singer’s music thanks to her. “I’m always so flattered when that happens!”

Where to look

If you want to learn more about French-Canadian or Quebec culture while discovering some new music, films or authors, here are some recommendations:

Julia Caron: Bilingual poetry events at the Morrin Centre; the English version of Michel Tremblay’s play Les Belles-Soeurs (coming this fall from the Quebec Art Company); Acadian pop acts Les Hay Babies and P’tit Belliveau

Brendan Kelly: Quebec bands 2Frères, Comment Debord and Karkwa; the film C.R.A.Z.Y. by Jean-Marc Vallée; the Radio-Canada medical drama STAT, the Netflix series Série Noire

Toula Drimonis: The novels of Simon Boulerice (for relatively easy reading) and Caroline Dawson; going on a French-language or bilingual walking tour; attending a show at a local venue

Reader Maria Castro: Radio-Canada shows including Silence, on joue! and police procedural District 31 (the latter is off the air but shows are still available online)

Reader Adrian Foster: Live improv with the Ligue d’improvisation de Québec

Reader Sandy Pike: STAT; the reality show Les Chefs; the talk show Tout le monde en parle; the news satire show Infoman; Garou, Marc Dupré and Les Cowboys Fringants

Reader Brittany Brilhante: STAT, District 31 and films including Bon Cop, Bad Cop 1 and 2 and Incendies

QCT staff: Bon Cop Bad Cop, the play Balconville by David Fennario(CK); Radio Classique 92.7 FM (SN); Canal M (SE); À la semaine prochaine on Radio- Canada (PB); Les Mordus de Politique on RDI (LL); Les Cowboys Fringants, Paul Piché, Infoman, the news podcast Détours, Tout le monde en parle, live shows by local artists (RP)

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