Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)
STUDIES - Judit Molnár: Search for Identity in the English-language Writing of Allophone Quebecers
social milieu, which, however, does not focus strictly on Québec but on Canada and on North America in general for that matter. Thus the cultural groundings of the texts are not the same; the political climate of Québec is more in the centre of interest in Raymond Filip's stories, at the same time the political overtones cannot be missed in Mary Melfi's novel either. The diverse ethnocultural environment produces an acute political awareness in Raymond Filip's stories viewing Allophones thrown into the middle — and this way being bound together to some extent — of the never-ending battle of the two founding nations —, which is most acutely experienced in the province of Québec. Thus the conflict between the French and the English serves as the basis and/or the substructure for other interethnic group struggles involving national, racial, religious, and linguistic differences. The changed political ambiance of Québec after the Quiet Revolution of the sixties is perceived unambigously by Raymond Filip. The growing population of both English-speaking and French-speaking Allophones together with the recent minority status of those of British descent are dealt with in his stories. The former is elaborated on in the first half of the volume, and the latter in the second half. The stories abound in timely references. The allusions to politics are of two types: on the one hand, they are of either national or international importance, on the other hand they evoke either directly the immediacy of the events or are more obliquely scattered in "neutral" conversations with obvious connotations, though. An example for the first kind is present in 'Allophone' when being an exile in Québec is favourably compared to being an exile in one of the ex-labour camps of the ex-Sovietunion. To longing for some hallowed place of peace to call home. To hold two handfuls of earth and say here. Not to feel six thousand miles an exile. Not to yearn for any other residence. But to honk your horn, have a neighbor wave hello, and be accepted as one of them. Perhaps good luck was on its way in this province shaped like a beaten heart (18—19) (emphasis added) 100
