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The Metamorphoses of Landscape and Community in Early Quebec

Colin M Coates author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:McGill-Queen's University Press

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The Metamorphoses of Landscape and Community in Early Quebec cover

An insightful look at the unique society of the seigneuries of Batiscan and Sainte-Anne de la Prade

French settlers distanced the indigenous people and flora and fauna to create a landscape that by the mid-eighteenth century had become recognizably European. British industrialists and landowners attempted similar appropriations with far less durable results and the area remained a heartland of French-Canadian life, with a sense of cohesive community. This community spirit, rooted in agrarian landscape, was channelled into the developing sense of colonial nationalism of the 1820s and 1830s. Drawing on maps by explorers and surveyors, correspondence documenting the conflict between a backwoods priest and his parishioners, a gentlewoman's sketchbook, and the documents of a bitter court case between a seigneur's wife and a local priest, Coates illuminates the development of the region and the social, cultural, and economic ties and tensions within it, providing insights into the often hidden values of a rural community.

"Colin Coates skillfully introduces his examination of vertical and horizontal social relationships. He goes on to question cultural changes in the peasantry during the lengthy period of over a century." [translation] Jean Roy, Department of Human Sciences, Universite de Quebec a Trois-Rivieres. "The author draws easily on his understanding of primary and secondary sources. The facts are presented in a broad context, and in a relevant and innovative theoretical framework. In the spirit of new historicism, the book effectively questions the most limited territories." [translation] Laurier Lacroix, Department of Art History, Universite de Quebec a Montreal.

ISBN: 9780773518971

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 374g

248 pages