Has inclusive writing won its battle in Quebec literature? She had a voice in the essays for a long time, the activist editions Remue-ménage and Écosociété having quickly adopted her. She then tuned in to the stories. Now it appears in fiction – in poetry, in novels, and much in translation. If language is usage, the authors have decided: yes to inclusive composition. And yes, also, at the same time, to traditional writing.
“We woke up / eyes in pigtails / hair in the air / almost everyone at the same time. » Baron Marc-André Lévesque begins one of the poems of his Triceratopcannon (2023). This collection is one of four books from Éditions de ta Mère in which the authors have used inclusive writing.
the bride and groom were moved by the rare gasps from tear to tear like a small boat the styracosaurs we see them less in the times that are running necessarily a good sign for the love that we all celebrate today will forever cherish the portraits taken from this grandiose foray
Baron Marc-André Lévesque made this choice because he “works with non-binary people or people who, in one way or another, are represented neither by the masculine nor the feminine. I would have a hard time writing in French where it doesn’t exist.”
Pattie O’Green does the same. In Putting the ax (Éditions du stir-ménage, 2015), her first book, inclusive writing “was inconsistent”, she recalls. “We chose this intuitive use, sometimes inclusive, sometimes not, to maintain the fluidity of the writing. »
Mme O’Green, who now always writes in an inclusive manner – emails, letters, etc. – does so quite frankly in The Mountain Prophecies (2023), at Marchand de Feuilles.
There are ordinary dead people and extraordinary ones. “An important person is gone” or “A great loss for Quebec” awkwardly rub shoulders with “Today, the number of deaths linked to COVID-19 stands at 262…” in the news. Does the importance of a dead person depend on how many people loved that person without being loved in return?
This house is “fluid in the use of inclusive writing”, according to editor Mélanie Vincelette, with the story The Constellations (2020), by Daniel Grenier; the test Made up (2020), by Daphné B., and the novel The daughter of herself (2021), by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay. Books that “show varying degrees of the evolution of the use of inclusive writing depending on the date of publication.”
Pretty much everywhere
The duty surveyed 19 publishing groups from different literary genres in January about their inclusive writing practices. Of this number, 11 houses responded. Only Alto and Les Malins said they had not used it in their publications.
And again, Les Malins will come, at the end of 2024, the first publication in inclusive writing “because it is a wish of the author, but also because there is a beautiful synergy with the theme which highlights a person not binary,” specifies Marc-André Audet.
Then, Alto remembered that she used this writing in the translation of the collective Love in times after, by Sophie Voillot. “Do you count the translations? » asked Catherine Leroux.
Yes, because the first occurrence noticed in fiction by The duty East Noopiming. Remedy to cure whitenessby Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, translated by Arianne Des Rochers, by Mémoire d’encrier, in 2021.
Know that: Being frozen in the lake is another way of living
All publishing houses that use inclusive writing then follow the author’s wishes. They still publish mainly in traditional writing. For example, at Librex a “case-by-case” policy is applied,” says Justine Paré, “to properly represent and reach the target audience.”
At the youth editions of La Bagnole, we know that there is a question of generation. “For 14-17 year olds, inclusive writing is not new,” points out Jade Bérubé. In the coming months, Laurianne Charbonneau, Laura Doyle Péan and Dimani Mathieu Cassendo will author works in inclusive writing.
For their communications on social networks, more publishing houses are systematically adopting inclusive writing.
“They” are not international
Écosociété is one of the pioneers in Quebec. Its policy “has always been to encourage its authors to feminize their texts,” recalls Barbara Caretta-Debays, emphasizing that Françoise David was already doing so in 2004 in Common good sought.
The house has been thinking about inclusive writing “more acutely for four or five years,” continues the publishing manager. In addition to feminization, epicene words and all-encompassing formulas have taken up space.
“Then came the question of neutral pronouns (they) and non-binary neologisms (auteurices). There, the discussion got a little tougher! Politically, we all agree to “demasculinize” the French language and include absolutely everyone. »
“Sometimes, for ease of reading or even aesthetic reasons, things get stuck. While it seems very simple in theory, inclusive writing poses truly complex challenges in terms of publishing,” emphasizes M.me Caretta-Debays.
Example ? “Should we systematically feminize absolutely all the words in a text — nouns, pronouns, adjectives, etc.? ? If so, should we also feminize quotes from archives? I had to ask myself this question. »
The scope of the book also enters into the reflection. In the spring, Écosociété will publish AfroQueer. 25 committed voices. The editor spontaneously suggested that the author, Fabrice Nguena, use the pronoun “iel”. Clear refusal. “Readers in Africa do not know neutral pronouns and would not understand. »
Literary monstrosities
At Le Cheval d’August, the feminine was favored “to highlight themes which affect women more heavily, such as sexual assault in File a complaint (Léa Clermont-Dion, 2023) or unrealistic beauty standards in Formatting (Mikella Nicol)”, which, in 2023, was the first foray into inclusive writing for the publisher, as Aimée Verret says.
“The use of doublets seems artificial to us in a fictional context; “It seems unnatural to believe that a narrator would think ‘I’m going to hire an electrician,'” says M.me Verret.
It is exactly this type of narrator that David Turgeon presents in Isoline’s novel (Quartanier, released in February). The young woman, who works in publishing, “thinks” in inclusive writing, feminizes as much as possible, corrects her interlocutors who speak differently.
the critics had found a new bone to gnaw, and the givers of prizes as well as the readers, in any case, had not rushed on the object when it appeared in bookstores perhaps at Was there any truth in our youthful jokes?
The linguistic constraint stimulated the author. “It’s like a new instrument falling from the sky!” What do we do with that? What does that give, in terms of voice, for a character? And rhythmically? Where is the music of this writing? »
David Turgeon responds with “a bouquet of experiments. It forces us to make sentences differently, to tell stories differently; and that means that there are things that I didn’t tell with traditional writing.”
A little sporty at first, according to the writer, the writing warmed up and found its ease. “The difficulty is more oral. How are we supposed to say that? It allowed me to add humor. And to leave one or two rather monstrous shapes, like “leladit.e”,” he says, laughing.
And in poetry, where is sound so important? “I find a way to say the words each time,” explains Baron Marc-André Lévesque, “and there is a certain awkwardness cute. It makes us understand that the language as we were taught it is also full of pitfalls, problems, gray areas,” says the one who is more worried about “the current current of panic regarding inclusive writing” .
Usage will decide
“Literature allows for exploration, perhaps less permitted in administrative language,” underlines lexicologist Mireille Elchacar. “It’s interesting because it will make us think. »
For the specialist, it is natural that inclusive writing comes from the pen of the authors; this wind of change comes from the written word, which is quite unusual; variations on language arise much more often orally.
Also because inclusive writing “is very difficult”, recalls Mme Elchacar. “Even for people for whom writing is a career, it’s a challenge. You must have already mastered the language and learned to play with it to achieve this. »
Does the arrival of inclusive writing in Quebec publishing mean that it will spread inexorably? According to Mireille Elchacar, “we are not at all at the stage where we need to impose it. We can leave it to everyone to write as they want. Freedom belongs to the author. Is that part of his breathing, his posture as a writer? Has he thought about the question? »
“It will have to “pass” the test of real life,” concludes Mme Elchacar. “It’s usage that will determine whether it passes or not; that’s how language works. »