In the Name of the Father: An Essay on Quebec Nationalism

Jeffrey J. Cormier is an assistant professor of sociology at Queen’s
University.

Described as an “essay on Quebec nationalism,” this small book is
nothing more than an extended rant against “Quebec’s intellectual
bourgeoisie.” It is clear that author Daniel Poliquin, a
Franco-Ontarian currently living in Ottawa, has an ax to grind with
Quebec nationalist artists, journalists, and politicians—past and
present—who are all taken to task for “infantalizing” the Quebec
people and “abdicating responsibility” for the average hardworking
Quebecker. For Poliquin, it is to the simple folk—his father and
grandfather, for example—that we should look for true inspiration and
guidance on how to live authentically Quebecker, and indeed Canadian,
lives. The alternative is the crafty, self-serving nationalist
intellectual who is forever trying to dupe the common people.

Making matters worse, Poliquin conveys this message through a bizarre
mixture of not-so-subtle sarcasm, off-the-wall psychobabble, and bad
fiction. He develops a “theory” to explain what motivates Quebec
nationalists, which has to do with the desire to “avenge their
fathers” for past humiliations. He also creates two fictional
characters—the militant nationalist Charles-Olivier Lesieur and the
bilingual federalist Frank Labine—who fall in love with the same
woman. Even more odd is the fact that both men meet when Labine buys a
copy of Poliquin’s own book, In the Name of the Father, which the
nationalist Lesieur at several points rails against for being a
thoroughly offensive diatribe by an odious turncoat.

Apparently the book’s original publication in French, under the title
Le Roman colonial (The Colonial Novel), caused an enormous uproar in
Quebec literary circles. It is easy to see why. In English, however, it
is much more difficult to see the appeal of such a book. While hearing
the views of a Franco-Ontarian on Quebec nationalism is important,
Poliquin’s anger is so obvious and his style so brutal that it makes
it next to impossible to take them seriously.