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French Canada in Transition: The Effects of Anglo-American Industrialization upon a French-Canadian Small Town
French Canada in Transition is a landmark study of the impact of rapid industrialization on small French Canadian communities. First published in 1943 by the University of Chicago Press, it remains one of the most widely cited works of Canadian Sociology. Hughes's careful study of a typical Quebec city revealed trends and developing fault lines that would only make themselves apparent to less perceptive observers two decades later with the flowering of the so-call "Quiet Revolution."
Special features of this Wynford edition included the new introduction by Tepperman, the foreword to the 1963 Chicago paperback by Nathan Keyfitz of the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (predessor to Statistics Canada), and Hughes's own preface to the 1963 reprint, as well as a brief biography of Hughes and selections from important reviews of the book.
French Canada in Transition is a Wynford Book-one of a series of titles representing significant milestones in Canadian literature, thought, and scholarship. New introductions place each book in a modern context and show its continuing relevance.
Special features of this Wynford edition included the new introduction by Tepperman, the foreword to the 1963 Chicago paperback by Nathan Keyfitz of the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (predessor to Statistics Canada), and Hughes's own preface to the 1963 reprint, as well as a brief biography of Hughes and selections from important reviews of the book.
French Canada in Transition is a Wynford Book-one of a series of titles representing significant milestones in Canadian literature, thought, and scholarship. New introductions place each book in a modern context and show its continuing relevance.
- GenresSociology
227 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1943
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February 2, 2014
“French Canada in Transition” by sociologist Everett C. Hughes is a 1943 treatise that tracks industrialization in the early 20th century in small French settlements in the province of Quebec. Hughes earned his credentials at the University of Chicago, graduating from the famous Department of Sociology and Anthropology. He returned years later to teach there.
Hughes fashions the typical small French community of Cantonville for his study; the archetypical village was situated in the Eastern Townships (called Cantons in French) that were east of Montreal, south of the St. Lawrence River, and extended all the way down to the U.S. border. As with most of the areas in the Eastern Townships, Cantonville was heavily Catholic (>90%), Francophone, rural, agricultural, and primed for industrialization at the turn of the century. My interest in this book was that my maternal and paternal roots flow back to the Eastern Townships – notably Drummondville and Sutton. This book explained much of what I saw and heard in visiting those communities.
As industrialization came to the townships, overall development and employment and government advanced along four national lines – the old English pioneer families that remained in the area (a minority), new English emigrating to the area for the express purpose of establishing the new industries, and the French Canadians from both the countryside and the more urban areas. Hughes does an excellent job of delineating the positions of each cohort, showing their transition over a 30-year period (roughly 1911-1940).
Customs and rituals are entertained in the study. The influences of Catholic parishes/churches (where the majority of the population attended services), and the divided country/village school systems (where class, affluence, and ethnicity all told) were explored in detail. The narrative pointed out some of the quirks in the parishes and schools. In churches many families bid/paid semiannually for the right to sit in certain pews at the high Mass; the free Mass was generally held much earlier on Sundays. The public schools, whether in the country or the town, pretty much ceased educating youth at about age 15; if one was lucky enough to be born into a more affluent family, it was off to the private schools in cosmopolitan Montreal or conservative Quebec City beginning about age 10 or 11.
Many familial cultural practices were noted in Hughes study, such as: the annual rite of the eldest son asking for the paternal blessing each New Year’s Day, and the passing on of the family farm in its entirety to the eldest son while the rest of the children moved on literally and figuratively.
This was an interesting study of French-Canadian culture and transition. Since the book is undoubtedly of most interest to Canadians, sociologists, or those with roots in the area … it might be a bit of a bore to the casual reader.
Hughes fashions the typical small French community of Cantonville for his study; the archetypical village was situated in the Eastern Townships (called Cantons in French) that were east of Montreal, south of the St. Lawrence River, and extended all the way down to the U.S. border. As with most of the areas in the Eastern Townships, Cantonville was heavily Catholic (>90%), Francophone, rural, agricultural, and primed for industrialization at the turn of the century. My interest in this book was that my maternal and paternal roots flow back to the Eastern Townships – notably Drummondville and Sutton. This book explained much of what I saw and heard in visiting those communities.
As industrialization came to the townships, overall development and employment and government advanced along four national lines – the old English pioneer families that remained in the area (a minority), new English emigrating to the area for the express purpose of establishing the new industries, and the French Canadians from both the countryside and the more urban areas. Hughes does an excellent job of delineating the positions of each cohort, showing their transition over a 30-year period (roughly 1911-1940).
Customs and rituals are entertained in the study. The influences of Catholic parishes/churches (where the majority of the population attended services), and the divided country/village school systems (where class, affluence, and ethnicity all told) were explored in detail. The narrative pointed out some of the quirks in the parishes and schools. In churches many families bid/paid semiannually for the right to sit in certain pews at the high Mass; the free Mass was generally held much earlier on Sundays. The public schools, whether in the country or the town, pretty much ceased educating youth at about age 15; if one was lucky enough to be born into a more affluent family, it was off to the private schools in cosmopolitan Montreal or conservative Quebec City beginning about age 10 or 11.
Many familial cultural practices were noted in Hughes study, such as: the annual rite of the eldest son asking for the paternal blessing each New Year’s Day, and the passing on of the family farm in its entirety to the eldest son while the rest of the children moved on literally and figuratively.
This was an interesting study of French-Canadian culture and transition. Since the book is undoubtedly of most interest to Canadians, sociologists, or those with roots in the area … it might be a bit of a bore to the casual reader.
Displaying 1 of 1 review