The Concepts of Americanization and Americanity: Birth, Evolution and Literary Applications in Contemporary Quebec
2019
Abstract
After having compared and put into context the various definitions of Americanization and Americanity, the article retraces the history and the paradoxes of their theorization. Finally, it provides a brief typology of contemporary novels in which the United States plays a crucial role: "novels of the road" that have multiplied since the 1980s, following the inspiration of Volkswagen blues (1984) by Jacques Poulin or The Lament of Charlie Longsong (1996) by Roch Carrier; works "emblematic of Quebec's modernity"; texts corresponding to what Benoît Melançon called "the School of the Ch'en'ssa" and many ironic versions of American myths.