What does the Quebec “we” represent today? In her latest documentary, the journalist and former columnist for To have to Francine Pelletier traces the evolution of Quebec nationalism from the 1960s to the present day. Battle for the soul of Quebec thus returns to the conservative turn taken in recent decades by a movement that was nevertheless progressive in its infancy.
After the first very linear minutes, the historian Pierre Anctil introduces Battle for the soul of Quebec in the heart of the matter. By evoking racism, the rejection of the other and diversity, the historian raises the issue of responsibility in the face of current identity drifts. And the rest of the documentary is rather explicit: it addresses the role played by the media in the polarization of Quebec, but also that of political figures, Mario Dumont and his populist formulas in mind.
We also learn, thanks to the various speakers, that the Charter of Quebec values is the tipping point towards a new nationalism, which maintains that the “historical French-speaking majority” should be defended against the Muslim religion and… veiled women. All crystallized by an often confused definition of secularism.
For Manal Drissi, columnist, author and humorist, it is finally about a nationalism of identity, concretized by François Legault in 2019 with his law 21 on religious symbols. “It brings nothing to the majority of Quebecers, apart from the feeling of dominating, she says. It is a nationalism that excludes. »
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