Religion and nationalism in Quebec: The Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebrations in sociological perspective.

Abstract

This thesis is a sociological study of la Fete de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Quebec, from its beginnings until the present. It argues that la Fete was a stage for the express-sion and unification of three sets of polarities found within Quebec society: nationalism vs. religion, the elite vs. the masses, and popular religiosity vs. clerical authority. Its five chapters can be divided into three general parts: the historical (Chapters I, II and III), the theoretical (Chapter IV) and the analytical (Chapter V). The Introduction, in addition to summarizing the contents of the thesis, briefly discusses some major theoretical contributions to the sociology of religion and the rapport between religion and the feast. Chapter I is a review of the relationship between the Catholic Church and Quebec society. This is meant to provide the basic foundation for subsequent analyses. The history of Quebec Catholicism is considered in terms of the customary breakdown: New France, post-Conquest, ultramontanism and the Quiet Revolution. Particular attention is paid, in this chapter, to the manner in which the Church had an impact upon structures of belief, both religious and secular. The next two chapters deal specifically with the celebrations and the group with which they are most often associated. Chapter II discusses la Fete itself, both in terms of its history and its symbolic and ritualistic components. The celebrations are analyzed on the basis of three historical periods: the Patriotes, ultramontanism or the period of clerical domination, and the Quiet Revolution and its aftermath. Chapter III takes a look at the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montreal, not so much in terms of its detailed history as its ideological profile and influence. Chapter IV concentrates on examining the central theoretical concepts which run throughout the thesis: nationalism, ideology, class, secularization and popular religion. In the last two sections of this chapter, a sociological perspective on the notion of the feast is suggested, and the three sets of polarities are introduced. The concluding chapter, Chapter V, attempts a systematic analysis of the polarities, as these were reflected during each of the three historical periods associated with la Fete. There is a brief discussion of rituals in the opening pages. The formal Conclusion to the thesis summarizes the central arguments, in the context of some of the themes introduced earlier. An appendix discusses three topics in greater detail: participation rates in the public gatherings, other associations spawned by the Societe, and membership figures.