This text is part of the special Francophonie notebook
You are wondering how old this famous actor is; you automatically turn to Google. The first link that will be offered to you will definitely take you to Wikipedia. But this famous collective online encyclopedia, adopted by almost everyone, what does it say about us and about French-speaking minorities?
If you start researching who Franco-Ontarians are, on Wikipedia, there is a good chance that the article you read will not be written by a Franco-Ontarian. This is revealed in a study carried out by Nathalie Casemajor, professor and researcher at the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS), and Stéphane Couture, professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Montreal.
Published in 2020 in the Journal of anthropology of knowledge, the article “Pluralization of minority knowledge and cultures. Franco-Ontarian identity in Wikipedia” received the Louise-Dandurand prize from the Fonds de recherche du Québec in April 2022. It demonstrates that the Franco-Ontarian portal on Wikipedia, which brings together pages intended for this Francophone minority group in Ontario , is run by five main contributors, only one of whom explicitly identifies as Franco-Ontarian on his personal page — he is of French origin. The majority of contributors are in fact Quebecers and French.
Although this demonstrates a certain cultural curiosity within the Francophonie, Nathalie Casemajor emphasizes that this also poses a problem. “The way of treating Franco-Ontarian identity can be stereotyped [si on n’a pas] a slightly finer inner knowledge of the culture. »
“I don’t think the Franco-Ontarian portal has incredible political or social influence,” says Stéphane Couture. But I think that the representation of Franco-Ontarians in Wikipedia is perhaps not in line with the current debates among Franco-Ontarians, who are now much more marked by new immigration. »
The two researchers also point out in their article that the representation of Franco-Ontarian identity is “relatively confused and ambiguous”, notably the very definition of what a Franco-Ontarian is (should he speak French or is the simple fact of having French-speaking European immigration roots enough?).
More generally, Nathalie Casemajor believes that this variable is essential, since Wikipedia is a central source of access to knowledge. “It is very important that different cultures are reflected, because it represents different ways of projecting oneself into knowledge, to better understand the world in which we live,” she explains.
“What is particular about Franco-Ontarians is that it is a minority culture which is not as strong as the Acadians, for example,” adds his colleague Stéphane Couture. It’s much more diffuse. »
Anglo Wiki versus French Wiki
Nathalie Casemajor has been interested for around ten years in Wikipedia as a platform for the dissemination of knowledge, and in particular in the questions of cultural diversity and the different relationships to knowledge found there. And she notes that the ways of doing things and the rules are quite different in the English-speaking and French-speaking worlds.
In the English-speaking Wikipedia, contributors come from much more varied countries than in its French-speaking counterpart; in line, in some way, with the tradition of multiculturalism, explains the researcher. So there is a style manual for articles that concern Canada. For example, if there are certain spelling differences, we will immediately use Canadian-English spelling.
But in the French-speaking sphere, this label is non-existent. By default, we use the rules of the French Academy in Paris. And this… even for very Quebecois subjects – which generates, one can imagine, many arguments. “For example, a few years ago, a Quebec contributor wanted to rename the article Puckreplacing it with Washer, says the professor. His argument was that hockey is important in Quebec, compared to France, and therefore that we should use words that are used in Quebec! »
“Knowledge is always located somewhere”
The example may seem trivial, but the question raised is nonetheless important, according to Nathalie Casemajor. “If I am a student interested in medicine, for example, and I only find information on the training and the type of practice found in France, that will not at all apply to Quebec territory and to the way in which I can project myself into this professional path. »
For the researcher, Wikipedia is a global platform where different groups of French speakers can work together to share knowledge. “It shows that knowledge is always located somewhere. And for French-speaking territories, those which make up the diversity of the Francophonie, it is important to assert these different points of view, these different realities, otherwise, ultimately, we have an encyclopedia which is very partial in its representation of the world. »
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