|
Article Excerpt
Introduction
In his book Banal Nationalism, Michael Billig demonstrates that nationalism is by no means a "peripheral phenomenon, present in ethnic separatist movements but removed from common nation states." (1) Instead, citizens are perpetually reminded of their national identities by symbols such as flags, coins, national anthems, and political discourse. Quebecers are constantly bombarded with competing political discourse regarding whether Quebec is a "nation" or a "distinct society" and whether Quebecers form a "people," but such explicitly political discourse is not really "banal" nationalism. Billig writes: "The metonymic image of banal nationalism is not a flag which is consciously waved with fervent passion; it is the flag hanging unnoticed on the public building." (2) Perhaps the most visible arena of symbolic conflict occurs in the battles over flags in Quebec, but popular culture is another arena where differences between "Quebecers" and "Canadians" manifest themselves.
Others have noted the importance of popular culture in reinforcing a Quebecois identity. In particular, the development of French language television has led to the emergence of a class of Quebecois celebrities and television shows that appeal almost exclusively to Quebecers. Louis Balthazar writes that television has enabled Quebecers to see a new image of themselves transmitted--an image that serves to reinforce a common identity, one that excludes Francophones outside of Quebec. (3) Furthermore, most of these shows probably have little audience among Anglophones within Quebec, who have a far greater choice of television options in their own language. Thus, television may serve to reinforce linguistic differences. This article will consider how popular music also influences perceptions of national identity in Quebec.
Francophone Quebecers have increasingly identified themselves as "Quebecois(e)" rather than as "French Canadian" or simply as "Canadian." (4) Self-identification as Quebecois(e) has been linked to support for sovereignty. For example, in one survey of college students, 82 percent of those students who considered themselves to be more Quebecois(e) than Canadian supported sovereignty, whereas only 4 percent of those considering themselves to be more Canadian than Quebecois(e) and only 12 percent of those sharing both identities equally supported sovereignty. (5)
At the societal level, the constant reinforcement of a Quebec-centered identity is undoubtedly crucial for sustaining an environment where sovereignty is viewed as a reasonable alternative. In Quebec, where two identities are in competition, the ever-present markers of Quebecois, rather than Canadian, identity are an important asset for those who argue that Quebec should be sovereign, and the question of how a Quebec-centered identity has become ascendant within Quebec deserves study.
Music and National Identity
Benedict Anderson famously describes nations as "imagined communities" and emphasizes the importance of newspapers in defining such communities by providing their readers with a shared stock of common national referents. (6) More recently, Tim Edensor has argued that radio and television are critical in situating individuals within a national imagined community. (7)
Popular songs tell stories about social groups--stories that form part of a narrative that helps individuals find their place in the world and develop a political identity, creating what Bruno Roy describes as the "collective imagination" of a group. (8) Maureen Whitebrook writes that "persons understand their own lives as stories" and that without the structure of stories life would be unintelligible. (9) A song that tells a compelling story about one's group may have more impact than would an account in a history book. For example, the (sometimes) fictional individuals whose stories are told in songs often serve as role models for how real individuals should act. Whitebrook writes that through the weaving together of individual lives with the stories of the large group, "single lives can be regarded as episodes in a containing and continuing narrative, or narratives, one of which is the political story; and the stories of person, group and regime interlock." (10) When identities are contested, as in Quebec, such narratives may be particularly powerful in shaping how an individual views the world. Consequently, Whitebrook contends that narrative identities can be "weapons in the struggle for power" when constructed by nationalist groups. (11)
Music may be particularly important in forming the social and political attitudes of young people. Considerable evidence suggests that individuals form their values and political orientations at a fairly young age--childhood or young adulthood at the latest--and that these core values are not likely to change throughout the individual's lifetime. (12) Young people spend large amounts of time listening to the radio and their own music collections and develop emotional connections to their favorite music. (13) As a cultural product, music may be particularly powerful because of the ability of listeners to purchase (or download) music and listen to it repeatedly.
Mark Mattern, in his book Acting in Concert: Music, Community, and Political Action, argues that music helped sustain the counter-culture that spawned a political movement against the Vietnam War, was crucial in maintaining a community of democratic socialists in Chile under military rule, and has helped to sustain a distinctive Cajun identity in Louisiana. (14) Mattern contends that music builds connections among those sharing common musical tastes and can mark a particular group as distinctive. He writes: "The way [members of a group] express themselves musically helps mark them off as a distinctive people. Their music contributes to a universe of shared meanings, memories, and self-understandings that differs from the universe of other groups." (15) Furthermore, when music is performed live, people come together, meet one another, and--on some occasions--develop a shared identity. As an example, when music treats political themes or when conditions are right, crowds gathered to listen to music can be mobilized to engage in political action.
In addition, music resonates with the values and beliefs of its intended audience--it has to in order to attract listeners--and thus music may reflect national worldviews in subtle ways. For example, in his comparison of songs written for the African famine relief efforts of the 1980s, David Howes contrasts the self-confident universalism of the American song "We Are the World" with the smug self-centeredness of the British song "Do They Know-It's Christmas?" and the cautious uncertainty of the (English) Canadian song "Tears Are Not Enough." Howes also discusses Quebec's contribution to this oeuvre, "Les yeux de la faim," which, he argues, combines an American focus on rights with a much more explicit recognition of the responsibilities of the developed world to help those in the less developed world. Although each song shares the same objectives of drawing attention to famine in Africa and encouraging support for famine relief, the songwriters approached the subject in different ways, because both the artists and their intended audiences are members of different societies with different histories, values, and emotional triggers. (16) Thus, the songs reinforce those historical narratives and values among their listeners.
A Short History of Popular Music in Quebec
It has been suggested that Quebec's music represents Quebecers' quest for identity and that the success of Quebecois music has solidified this identity. (17) Roy argues that traditional folk songs served to transmit the dominant values of an era and, in the case of Quebec, propagate a collective identity even before sound recordings were possible. (18) The traditional style of Quebecois singers placed a heavy emphasis on lyrics. Singer-songwriters, or chansonniers, such as Felix LeClerc achieved considerable success in...
|
