Liberté (Quebec)
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''Liberté'' is a quarterly
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
literary magazine founded in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
in 1959. The founders were
Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...
and
National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
producers
Hubert Aquin Hubert Aquin (24 October 1929 – 15 March 1977) was a Quebec writer, filmmaker and intellectual. He is particularly known for his novel ''Next Episode (novel), Next Episode''. He is also an important figure in the history of the Quebec Soverei ...
, André Belleau,
Jacques Godbout Jacques Godbout, OC, CQ (born November 27, 1933) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker and poet. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler (''touche-à-tout''), Godbout has become one of the most important wr ...
,
Fernand Ouellette Fernand Ouellette is a Quebecois writer. He is a three-time winner of the Governor General's Awards, having won the Governor General's Award for French-language non-fiction at the 1970 Governor General's Awards for ''Les actes retrouvés'', the ...
, and editor
Jean-Guy Pilon Jean-Guy Pilon, (12 November 1930 – 27 April 2021centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
, but it took on a new political direction in 2018.


History


Founding

First discussions of the publication of a new literary journal in Quebec began around 1957 with the poet
Jean-Guy Pilon Jean-Guy Pilon, (12 November 1930 – 27 April 2021ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...
that connected
Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, which Pilon had boarded on his return from France in 1955. ''Liberté'''s first issue was published in February 1959. At the time, the editorial team consisted of Pilon,
Jacques Godbout Jacques Godbout, OC, CQ (born November 27, 1933) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker and poet. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler (''touche-à-tout''), Godbout has become one of the most important wr ...
,
Fernand Ouellette Fernand Ouellette is a Quebecois writer. He is a three-time winner of the Governor General's Awards, having won the Governor General's Award for French-language non-fiction at the 1970 Governor General's Awards for ''Les actes retrouvés'', the ...
, André Belleau, Jean Filiatrault, Paul-Marie Lapointe, Michel van Schendel, Lucien Véronneau, and
Gilles Carle Gilles Carle, (July 31, 1928As fully funny, Carle had pleasure to always give himself one year less, and to let people think wrongly that he was born in 1929, "The Year of the Big World Crash": see on the Quebec French newspapers that many write ...
. Carle, Hénault, Lapointe, Véronneau, and van Schendel left the journal before the publication of the second issue, perceiving a lack of support for the
Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...
producers'
strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...
of 1958–1959. From its inception, the journal not only dealt with literature and politics but also covered current events in other media, notably the
visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...
and
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
. The place of the intellectual, particularly the writer, within society thus became a central concern in the essay published in ''Liberté''.


1960s and 1970s: ''Liberté'' and the Quiet Revolution

''Liberté'''s first decades were marked by great political and cultural change in Quebec during the
Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution () was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the ...
. Although the journal never took an official position on the political debates raging in Quebec at the time, it became a forum for discussions in favor of literary autonomy,
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
,
sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...
, and
socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
. The question of language was central to these discussions and would become the subject of many contributions to the publication. Many important figures in Quebec literature, including Michèle Lalonde and
Hubert Aquin Hubert Aquin (24 October 1929 – 15 March 1977) was a Quebec writer, filmmaker and intellectual. He is particularly known for his novel ''Next Episode (novel), Next Episode''. He is also an important figure in the history of the Quebec Soverei ...
, published and held management and editorial positions at ''Liberté'' during these decades. In a 1962 issue of the journal, Aquin published the essay "La fatigue culturelle du Canada français" (), a landmark text that documented the changes Quebec society was undergoing at the time. ''Liberté'' did not publish its fall issue in 1970 due to the
October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...
and the enactment of the
War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. The Act was brough ...
. Despite condemning the brutal government and police response to these events and despite the journal's pro-sovereignty stance, the editorial team preferred to maintain its independence by not showing support for the
Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Quebec separatist terrorist group which aimed to establish an independent and socialist Quebec. Founded sometime in the early 1960s, the FLQ conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970,Reich, Walter. ''Origins of Terror ...
. This led to Aquin abruptly departing from the journal in March 1971 and accusing it of being under the control of the
Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...
. ''Liberté'' achieved its greatest popularity during the 1970s: up to 3,000 copies were printed, 1,000 of which were subscription copies. As the second generation of contributors joined the magazine - notably François Hébert and
François Ricard François Ricard (4 June 1947 – 17 February 2022) was a Canadian writer and academic from Quebec.Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...
's rise to power in 1976. In 1979, 20 years after ''Liberté'''s founding, founder Jean-Guy Pilon left the journal.


1980s and 1990s: The second and third generations of ''Liberté''

Following Pilon's departure, François Ricard became editor of the journal, which then took a more polemical turn. Following the failure of the 1980 referendum on Quebec sovereignty, ''Liberté'' became critical of several institutions whose creation it had supported in previous decades. In 1984, three women, Lise Noël, Danielle Trudeau, and Suzanne Robert, joined the committee, which had until then been dominated by men. Despite the contributions of Noël, Trudeau, and Robert, there was notable
antifeminist Antifeminism or anti-feminism is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as women's suffrage, the right to vote, Female education, educat ...
sentiment in the journal during the 1980s. In 1986, François Hébert took over editing duties, and the publication began to focus on issues specific to writing and creation. The 1980s were thus marked by cultural discussions giving way to discussion of politics, as well as by a growing interest in international literature.


2000s to Present: Crisis, cultural resistance, and the journal's rejuvenation

In 2000, the journal experienced an unprecedented financial and administrative crisis, resulting in the June issue not being published and long-time contributors departing. In the following years, ''Liberté'' experienced further instability in the form of significant staff turnover. Starting in 2005 and over the following years, a new team formed around editor Pierre Lefebvre. The team sought to reconnect with what it identified as ''Liberté'''s politically engaged history, imagined through the figure of Hubert Aquin. Aguin was chosen as the representative of the spirit of ''Liberté'', at the expense of other important contributors throughout the journal's history. The journal then adopted the motto of "cultural resistance," assuming a subversive and critical tone. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the journal's founding, which occurred in 2009, the team, then composed of Pierre Lefebvre, Olivier Kemeid, Robert Richard, Evelyne de la Chenelière, Michel Peterson, and Jean-Philippe Warren, published an anthology of essays from ''Liberté''. Published in 2011 by Le Quartanier, the anthology was titled ''Lécrivain dans la cité - 50 ans d'essais'' (''The Writer in the City - 50 Years of Essays''). In accordance with the team's editorial intent, the anthology focused primarily on the political dimension of ''Liberté'''s publishing history, to the exclusion of fiction, literary essays, and poetry. In 2012, the journal adopted a magazine format and underwent a major overhaul such that it now publishes more essays about political readings of literature than straightforward political essays. The subtitle "art et politique" ("Art and Politics") was adopted at this time. In 2018, Aurélie Lanctôt and Rosalie Lavoie became co-directors of ''Liberté''. Under their direction, the journal places greater emphasis on current political issues, such as
environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...
,
anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...
, and
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
. Issue 321, published in the fall of 2018 under the theme "First Peoples: Mapping a Liberation," is emblematic of this new direction. The new Lavoie-Lanctôt team sought to relax the editorial team's hierarchy and provide greater space for debate. In 2019, as it celebrated its sixtieth anniversary, ''Liberté'' produced two anniversary issues (issues 325 and 326) and proposed an overhaul of its visuals. This political shift rejuvenated the publication's image and brought in new readership. In 2022, Valérie Lefebvre-Faucher replaced Lanctôt as Lavoie's co-director, hoping to continue the shift Lanctôt and Lavoie initiated four years earlier. In 2023, Lavoie left the ''Liberté'' team to return to school and study to become a paramedic. She was replaced by Laurence Perron.


Content and editorial policy

Since its founding, ''Liberté'' has published fiction, poetry, and literary and political essays. Currently, it focuses on political issues while maintaining a literary and artistic sensibility, and it aims to offer thoughtful and engaging content while remaining accessible to a broad readership. ''Liberté'' issues include sections such as "Chroniques" (Chronicles), "Rencontres" (Encounters), "Dossier," which explores the specific theme of the issue, and "Critique," which features literary, theater, and film reviews, among others. The last section, "Rétroviseur," established in 2013, is a space for the editorial team to revisit significant texts in the publication's history, connecting ''Liberté'''s legacy to its present. The journal publishes four issues per year. ''Liberté'' is a member of the Société de développement des période culturels québécois. The ''Liberté''
archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...
are held at the Montreal archives center of the
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec The (; ; abbr. BAnQ) is a Quebec government agency which manages the province's legal deposit system, national archives, and national library. Located at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal, the BAnQ was created by the merging of the Biblioth ...
. Issues of the journal have been available digitally on the Érudit platform since 2016, as well as on the official ''Liberté'' website.


References

{{Reflist Literary magazines published in Canada Magazines established in 1959 1959 establishments in Quebec French-language magazines published in Canada Magazines published in Quebec