Le problème identitaire dans le Canada francophone littéraire dans la deuxième moitié du XX-ème siècle
The problem of identity in French-speaking literary Canada in the second half of the 20th century

Summary/Abstract: In the case of one of the greatest Canadian francophone writers, Réjean Ducharme, ethnic assimilation is not made within the terms of a virtual contract; Ducharmean heroes try to integrate individually, deprived of the strong advantage of the mutual understanding and non-combat between the citizens of a cosmopolitan city in the second half of the 20th century. They make attempts to be accepted in their life and work environment, by playing the originality card, that of their profound lack of interest concerning material and promotion ambition. They fail, one by one, in a very tragic way and the consequence is that they suffer a dramatic transformation : either they choose to become famous members of society, by imitating its habits and deciding it is their turn to « swallow » (a keyword in Ducharmean novels) the weak and the misfit or they isolate themselves and don’t respond anymore to social and family calls .Thus, in Ducharme’s novels, the family microcosm and the social macrocosm mirror, by an intricate reflection game, the Canadian - French issue. In the heart of the conflict lies the ethnic antagonism which underlines the social confusion, as, unlike the United-States, there is not a single, but two national models; as a result of this opposition, morbid anxiety, murder impulses, neurosis are part of the characters’ natural behaviour; we literally witness the complex of a society. In spite all that, under the light of Canadian political and diplomatic initiatives during the last decades, pessimism and extreme solutions seem to have been replaced by a more responsible approach. Relations between the two communities, Anglophone and Francophone, are no longer dealt with in terms of destructive battle: a peaceful autonomy is being negotiated.

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