Abstract
This interview with filmmaker and critic Anita Aloisio foregrounds her experience as a child of Italian immigrants in Montreal, and her 2007 documentary film Les Enfants de la Loi 101. This 1977 law (Bill 101) seeks to protect and promote French in Québec. In the state educational domain, it requires most immigrants and Francophones to attend school in French. One of the aims of the law was to sensitize those of immigrant background to Québec’s culture and historical situation. Through conversations with people of immigrant background in their mid-30s, who, like Aloisio herself, were among the first to experience this law at school, Aloisio shows both its benefits (many of which are substantial, she argues), and the at-times heavy-handed manner in which it has been applied.
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Notes
- 1.
Les Enfants de la Loi 101. 2007. Virage. As a critic, Aloisio has published an analysis of the work of Italo-Quebecois singer Marco Calliari, whose work she continues to explore, including his complex linguistic travails. She completed a Masters in Communication and Media Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, with a dissertation on the ‘transmemoric process’ (Aloisio 2016). Her short film Creatori d’Italicità highlights recent Canadian Italian directors who have influenced Québec and Canadian society (Aloisio 2017).
- 2.
For an accessible English-language presentation of Bill 101, see the McCord Museum’s website at http://collections.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&elementid=103__true&tableid=11&contentlong
French became the only official language of Québec in 1974, following on from Bill 63 in 1969, which aimed to establish French as the working language of the province. (Under Bill 63, parents could choose the language of instruction of their children). The business and labor-related aspects of the law were brought in to combat a situation whereby in 1977 there were few French speakers in top management positions, and workers who spoke only French earned less than those who spoke only English. Today, those eager to see an increased emphasis on French focus on the fact that, while over 90% of employees in Québec speak French regularly in the workplace, there is a growing number whose work is bilingual in English. Companies with over 50 employees are required to have a committee to promote and ensure the speaking of French (comité de francisation). In terms of signage, all is not clear cut, and monolingual signs in English have been not uncommon, especially on the island of Montreal. Since 2016, commercial brands must have a visibly evident French element to their advertising. For the text of the law in these two domains, see Chapters VI and VII of the Bill: http://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-11
- 3.
For a pan-Canadian perspective on heritage languages, see “L’Enseignement des langues d’origine au Canada: réalités et débats” (McAndrew and Ciceri 2003). For a guide to Élodil’s intercultural approach and practice, see the detailed 2013 brochure by Françoise Armand and Erica Maraillet available from the Université de Montréal website.
- 4.
Introduction to “New Work in Immigration and Identity, in France, Québec, and Ireland”.
- 5.
Fragile Majorities and Education: Belgium, Catalonia, Northern Ireland, and Québec [trans. of 2000 publication].
- 6.
See for example the 2018 cultural policy for Québec in which the initial briefings did not mention support for Anglophone cultural production.
- 7.
I have analyzed Micone’s nuanced and inclusive approach in my article, “Hybridity and Intercultural Exchange in Marco Micone’s Le Figuier enchanté” (Cooke 2011). In Micone’s text, the autobiographical narrator-essayist attended English school, with the result that he knew little about the majority Francophone society and culture until he was drawn to fill that gap and study it as a young man, becoming a Quebecois writer and cultural commentator sympathetic to the Québec national cause. More importantly perhaps, Micone’s text seems to advocate a feeling of solidarity between immigrants of different groups, who share the experience of immigration, with its possible feelings of exile, and possible economic exploitation, but also the potential richness of hybridity. All of this merges to form what he terms ‘la culture immigrée’. He also underlines the importance of valuing heritage by teaching and learning about the culture of origin.
- 8.
Geneviève Bernard Barbeau’s 2018 article, “40 ans après”, discusses current perceptions of this law across various sectors of society, through the press.
- 9.
Dawn Allen’s 2006 article “Who’s in and who’s out?” showcases Québec immigrant youths at school experiencing comparable feelings.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
The image of the multifaceted Canadian mosaic does not appeal to the Québécois imaginary, given its perception of itself as a founder-nation in Canada.
- 13.
Secularism as a core value for Québec has been foregrounded sharply in the last decade, most recently with Bill 21 on Secularism, seeking to prohibit people in positions of professional authority from wearing religious attire (unless in religious contexts), which is nonetheless being hotly contested in Montreal in 2019.
References
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Aloisio, Anita. 2002. Straniera come donna. Canada: Québec Ministry of Immigration.
———. 2007. Les Enfants de la loi 101. Montréal: Les Productions Virage.
———. 2015. Marco Calliari, an Italian-Québécois Artist. A Reflection of Identity, Cultural Belonging and Artistic Patrimony. Oltreoceano 9: 23–31.
———. 2016. The Transmemoric Process: The Journey of Italian-Québécois Artists. MA thesis. Montreal: Concordia University.
———. 2017. Creatori d’Italicità [18 minutes short film].
Aloisio, Anita, Ingrid Berzins Leuzy, Gilles Blais, Meiyen Chan, and Tolga Kutluay. 2004. My Grandmother. Canada: Baltalya and Betulla Productions.
Barbeau, Geneviève Bernard. 2018. 40 ans après, qu’en est-il de la loi 101? Représentations et discours conflictuels dans la presse québécoise. Circula, Revue d’idéologie linguistique 7: 51–59. https://doi.org/10.17118/11143/14494.
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———. 2016. Introduction to “New Work in Immigration and Identity, in France, Québec, and Ireland”. Comparative Literature and Culture 18: 4. https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.2968.
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———. 2004. Immigration, littérature et société. Spirale (janvier–février): 4.
Rukavina, Steve. 2018. Anglophones get a nod in Québec’s new cultural policy but funding remains unclear. CBC News, June 12. Accessed 25 Mar 2019. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/anglophones-Québec-new-cultural-policy-1.4702834
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Cooke, D. (2020). “Let me explain: this is who I am”: Interview with Anita Aloisio with Introduction by Dervila Cooke. In: Mielusel, R., Pruteanu, S. (eds) Citizenship and Belonging in France and North America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30158-3_9
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