Pour une mise en contexte par rapport à l’histoire franco-américaine, consultez mon billet détaillant les grandes lignes de ce passé ou encore mon survol du parcours politique des « Francos ». Il y a quelques années, il a été question ici même des gigantesques défilés de la fête de Saint Jean-Baptiste en Nouvelle-Angleterre à la fin du […]
Continue readingCategory: Heritage and Memory
The Birthplace of Franco-America
The subscribers . . . beg leave to lay before Your Excellency their sad situation, seeing themselves abandoned in general by those who have conducted them in the just cause they have been engaged in since 1775 . . . in consequence of orders, and promises as well from Your Excellency as from the honorable […]
Continue readingThe Lost Wor(l)ds of Franco-America
This post marks the fifth anniversary of this Franco-American history blog. Sincere thanks to everyone who has read, encouraged, and supported its research and reflections. The author delivered the following remarks as the opening lecture of the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s Scholars Symposium on April 26, 2022. The transcript appeared in the summer […]
Continue readingOne Story to Rule Them All
It’s clear. It’s compelling. It’s devastating. It’s a narrative. Whether personal, political, or historical, a narrative is a coherent, cohesive story that provides clear, if simplified, explanations and expresses specific values. As such, a narrative not only describes events, but often proposes a certain course of action. A narrative offers intellectual shortcuts: if you know […]
Continue readingWinter Carnivals of French Canada
In the colony’s earliest days, winter was an enemy. It suspended communication with the mother country and brought agriculture to a standstill for six months. Early frosts imperiled the food supply; long winters raised, in the first years, the specter of famine and scurvy. The settlers of New France at least benefitted from a seemingly […]
Continue readingBuilding Better History
It all starts with inconvenient, even provocative questions. If we believe that history truly matters—whatever our reason for saying so—we must surely agree that historical truth matters.[1] That truth is rarely tangible or instantly accessible. Our awareness and understanding of past events are molded by our memory, our values, and the natural limits of popular […]
Continue readingReview: Schubart, The Lamoille Stories
Book Review Bill Schubart. The Lamoille Stories: Uncle Benoit’s Wake and Other Tales from Vermont. Hinesburg: Magic Hill Press, 2013 [2008]. Yet, the rural Franco-Vermonters have a sense of their identity as French people, both those who live on family-owned farms, and those who live in mini-mill towns like Beecher Falls. The French-Vermonter’s identity is […]
Continue readingThe Clever Woman: A French-Canadian Folk Tale
In the literary ferment of the late nineteenth century, Quebec authors sought to craft a new national identity that could be read back in time. Quite consciously, such authors as Louis Fréchette and Honoré Beaugrand jotted down and published old oral traditions that were at risk of being forever lost. (It seems they may also […]
Continue readingQTP at 150: Back to Ding-a-Long Street
The several million Americans of French or French-Canadian origin, who are among the oldest Americans of European stock, are for the most part human vestiges of the vast continental French empire in North America. With these words, quoted from historian Mason Wade’s work, Query the Past launched into the story of the transnational French-Canadian community. […]
Continue readingVisions of Kerouac
This is no ordinary mois de la francophonie. This month marks the centennial of Jack Kerouac’s birth. The anniversary provides the opportunity to assess the legacy of the celebrated author and Franco-American icon—a legacy that should be explored in its full complexity, from Kerouac’s personal weaknesses to his pioneering work. We should hope that renewed […]
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