Literature as a tool of social control: The poetry of the French-Canadian intellectual elite, 1838-1859.

Abstract

An analysis of literature from an historical perspective brings to light the cultural change experienced by French-Canadian society during the first two decades of the Union period. French-Canadian poetry from 1838 to 1859 reflected the onset of conservative nationalism that would shape Quebec society until the Quiet Revolution. The French-Canadian intellectual elite made increasing use of poetry published in a growing number of newspapers to influence public opinion. By identifying the themes and techniques evident in the poetry compiled in four volumes of Les Textes Poetiques du Canada Francais, it is possible to recognize why this elite attempted to control the values and behaviour of the rural population. The significant migration of young farmers from Canada East to the United States was the dominant motivation for the intellectual elite to employ social control through literature by the 1850s. The fight against social change provided common ground for the convergence of the interests of the intellectual and clerical elites in their effort to guarantee national survival through the preservation of the traditional rural lifestyle of the habitant. French-Canadian poetry in this period both reflected the mindset of the community and contributed to popular social control by discouraging emigration and promoting colonization. Ultimately, this analysis of the fundamental conceptual change in how the writers viewed the aim of poetry in this period, will permit a better understanding of how the elite manipulated popular culture to reinforce traditional values and to ensure the survivance of the French-Canadian nation.