In Language, citizenship and identity in Quebec, Leigh Oakes and Jane Warren set themselves an ambitious target: to provide “a more comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between language and national identity, not only in Quebec, but also in a broader sense” (p. 2). The proposed structure and methodology are set out in chapter 1, and the theoretical concepts and positions to be considered (e.g., ethnic identity, national identity, globalisation and citizenship) are introduced and contextualized. The authors identify three main preoccupations, which lead to the formulation of the central research questions:
• “In its effort to maintain a distinct national identity, how is Quebec dealing with the new realities of ethnic diversity and globalisation?
• What is Quebec doing to forge a sense of common identity through language?
• To what extent is official policy concerning these issues compatible with the diverse experiences of minorities in Quebec?” (p. 4)
The overall structure of the book is determined by the examination of these questions successively, in three main parts. This approach results in great structural clarity and coherence. Part 1 deals with the particular social context of Quebec as it faces the perennial issues of identity and self-definition, along with the increasing focus on phenomena such as ethnic diversity and globalization (“New challenges,” chaps. 2–4). Part 2 is concerned with more specifically linguistic issues: the status of the French language (“A common language,” chaps. 5–6). The final part offers three case studies of provincial minorities: immigrants, Anglophones and Aboriginal nations (“Diverse experiences,” chaps. 7–9).
Chapter 2 examines the development of the civic conception of Quebec identity, from the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s to the post-1995 referendum definition based on the notion of Quebec citizenship. The usual distinction is drawn between liberal and civic republican citizenship, leading to the conclusion that Quebec has chosen its own adaptation of the civic model: “A unique model of citizenship: intercultural citizenship” (42). The theoretical bases of the various models of identity that have hitherto been proposed for Quebec are presented and analyzed at some length in chapter 3: the ethnic model (Dumont), the civic models (Derrienic, Leydet, Caldwell and Bariteau), and a third model (Bouchard, Seymour and Taylor) which attempts to reconcile the ethnic and the civic. The challenges for Quebec identity in a globalizing world are the central issues in chapter 4, which situates Quebec in the context of the Americas and assesses the role it has played on the international stage (i.e., through the network of la Francophonie).
Part 2 is more specifically linguistic, as it focuses on language planning, language attitudes, and the variety of French spoken in Quebec. Chapter 5 provides background information on status planning in Quebec since the 1960s before moving on to a discussion of the crucial questions of encouraging immigrants to adopt French, and whether it is possible to “de-ethnicise” language (97). While the first section of the chapter covers ground that is quite familiar to those interested in the linguistic fortunes of Quebec, the last three sections address the kernel of the matter: How should Quebec manage the delicate balance between the pressing need to accommodate the growing number of immigrants and the needs of the French Canadian ethnic majority? The debate here is characterized by an admirable understanding of the complex sociolinguistic reality that is contemporary Quebec, concluding with the impossibility (and inadvisability) of divorcing ethnicity completely from language: “The fact remains that French is also the mother tongue of the French Canadian ethnic majority, which is clearly a more obvious reason for its defence, not to mention a major force behind its maintenance. To ignore this reality is not only disingenuous, it also risks alienating French Canadians from the civic project” (105).
Chapter 6 sets out to deal with corpus planning and questions related to the quality of French and the variety to be selected as the standard form. Sociolinguists have documented over many decades the linguistic insecurity associated with the phenomenon of variation. Initially, the chapter takes a diachronic perspective, looking back at the issue of language use in New France. Surprisingly, no reference is made in this context to the excellent article by Mougeon Reference Mougeon and Plourde2000 on the topics of patois, knowledge of French among the early settlers, and homogenization. The more contemporary debate is centered on the problems surrounding the identification of a standard form of Quebec French. The discussion here is devoted largely to consideration of various lexicographical projects, notably the dictionary being produced by the FRANQUS research team at the Université de Sherbrooke, which is in keeping with the new civic approach to national identity. While there is a brief outline of phonological and syntactical issues (119–20), fuller treatment of all the linguistic features would have been a welcome addition.
Part 3 moves on to discuss the experiences of minorities, their sense of belonging in Quebec, and the attitudes toward them of Francophone Quebecers. Chapter 7 outlines the background to Quebec's immigration policy and analyzes the demolinguistic data available on immigration patterns on the basis of documents such as those published by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec (2006). It is generally agreed – and the discussion here is no exception – that immigrants' choices are crucial factors in the evolution of Quebec society and more particularly in the maintenance of the French language. The attitudes of Anglophone Quebecers, a group that has “historical claims to special status” (149) are the focus of chapter 8, which poses the questions of whether Anglophones can feel a sense of belonging to Quebec and whether they, in turn, can be accepted by Francophone Quebecers as “fully-fledged-citizens” (158). The final part of this chapter refers to positive signs of “increasing rapprochement” (171) between the two communities and to the blurring of distinctions between them, owing to factors such as increased levels of bilingualism among young Anglophones and increase in their multiethnic origins. The linguistic rights of Aboriginal peoples and how they may be construed within the new citizenship framework are the main subject matter of chapter 9, which presents data on the status of Aboriginal languages and refers to the obvious tensions between the promotion of French and the Aboriginal languages.
The conclusion draws together the threads of the discussion as developed in the three preceding parts. The authors conclude that the model of intercultural citizenship is worth pursuing (187), but that its success will depend on the extent to which “each minority's voice is clearly heard in the shaping of its own and the collective present and future” (198).
This book is a very welcome addition to the literature on the fortunes of the French language in Quebec and the formidable challenges it faces as a minority language in an increasingly globalized context. Though much has already been written on the topic, this book makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate, not least because of the inclusion of three detailed case studies in the crucial area of linguistic minorities within Quebec. The book is densely packed with well-researched and reliable information on the linguistic situation in the province, making it extremely useful to those with no previous knowledge of the context, yet providing new angles for those who are already familiar with it. The bibliography is extensive and up to date, making it an excellent starting point for sociolinguists with an interest in the language policy and planning dimensions of this fascinatingly rich and constantly evolving linguistic context. The authors' approach to language policy and planning is well judged and well founded, given that Quebec is often cited internationally as a model of language planning. The positions adopted are very cogently argued and contextualized within the particular theoretical frameworks. The inclusion of a more detailed linguistic description of Quebec French would have resulted in an even more comprehensive volume, though the omission is to some extent understandable, given the authors' concentration on the macro rather than the micro level. The book has many strengths, including the clarity of its structure and presentation, the cogency of its argumentation, the relevance of its analyses to the ongoing development of language planning as a discipline and, most important, its significant contribution to the understanding of the complex sociolinguistic reality of contemporary Quebec.
