B.A. Linguistics, Universit茅 de Montr茅al

Post-graduate diploma (D.E.S.S.) Translation, Concordia University

M.A. Traductology, Concordia University

Ph.D. English, Universit茅 de Montr茅al

Affiliation - Postdoctoral Fellowship, French-Language Literatures, Translation, and Creative Writing, 平特五不中

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Marie Leconte鈥檚 doctoral thesis focuses on Montreal鈥檚 English-language literature, its translation into French and its modern evolution in the sphere of Quebec literature. For her master鈥檚 thesis, she translated into French a dozen of A. M. Klein鈥檚 poems, a Montreal Jewish poet from the middle of the twentieth century. In both cases, her interdisciplinary research combines literary studies, translation studies and linguistics with Montreal鈥檚 sociocultural and historical movements.

Sociocultural and sociopolitical issues associated with the mixture of culture in language (as well as language in culture) are interwoven into the fabric of contemporary literature in Quebec. More commonly considered from the point of Qu茅b茅cois literature since the Quiet Revolution, this cultural and political convergence may recently boast a rather paradoxical affiliation, that with a minor English-language literature.

Marie Leconte鈥檚 research project at CIRM focuses mainly on the evolution of Anglo-Qu茅b茅cois literature in Montreal and the influences political and linguistic tensions have had on it. The research will be done using the complete archives of the Quebec Writers鈥� Federation (QWF), an organization created in the mid 1990s, following the merger of two other organizations run by English-speaking literary stakeholders in Montreal. The archives of this organization are full of relevant information for a study that aims to better understand the circumstances of the appearance and development of this literature. The exchange initiated by the QWF with Quebec institutional, cultural and government structures had for intention the recognition of English-language writing and writers in the cultural sphere of Quebec. Leconte鈥檚 project will shed light on the different stages of a Montreal-based institutionalization that evolved in parallel to that of Qu茅b茅cois literature.

Mapping the history of this English-language literature based on a collective initiative that has become a pivotal organization in Montreal鈥檚 cultural, institutional and political space is a project that fits perfectly into CIRM鈥檚 鈥淟anguage, belonging and plurilingualism鈥� action-research axis. The cultural, political and economic issues of language are reflected not only in the works of this literature, but more concretely in the development of its institutionalization. Language is a vessel of choice for expressing identity. And using one over another has a significant impact on the way we interpret the belonging of the person (or the organization). The purpose of this project is to observe how this English-language literature has developed (and is still developing) in the Francophone cultural space of Montreal, taking into account the evolution of relations woven over time by the QWF with local and provincial literary, mediatic, governmental and institutional entities.

The second research axis in which this project fits is that of 鈥淒igital Culture, Art, Literature, and Performance.鈥� The QWF archives are important and their form is fragile and inaccessible to the majority of people who might want to consult them. Leconte鈥檚 goal is to develop their accessibility together with experts, and to find not only a digital space where to host them, but also to develop a better way to showcase them. In the same spirit as the research described above, these archives should be presented alongside the socio-historical context of their appearance in order to see how they 鈥渃ontribute to solidifying or eroding the boundaries between the linguistic and ethno-racial communities.鈥� To this end, we will develop a categorization of archived material based on an objective that will be determined using archival experts, as well as people more directly involved in the social issues surrounding their content.

As a breeding ground for Quebec鈥檚 language issues, Montreal is the perfect place to witness the fluctuations of tensions with the English language over time. Not only does the use of a language over another slant the content of what is being expressed but the premise of the choice itself has an impact as well. Recognizing this is key. When understood as a cross-cultural communicating practice, translation carries much more meaning than it initially intends. Without a comprehensive understanding of each side, the information is almost always apprehended with only one in mind, the one doing the receiving. For this reason, the results of the project will be published in both French and English. Each text鈥檚 objective will be to address the inherent bias contained within and across both languages about the emergence and development of an English-language literature from Quebec and its evolving institutionalization.

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Ongoing projects

• "Le r么le de la Quebec Writers' Federation dans l'institutionnalisation de la litt茅rature anglo-qu茅b茅coise"听(principal investigator, 2020-2022)

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Selection of publications

Chapter 4 An Ultraminor Literature: English Writing in Montreal (Fall 2021)

La litt茅rature anglophone au Qu茅bec (May 2020)

Theorizing the Peregrinations of Anglo/Qu茅b茅cois Literature in translation (2019)

Acc茅der au champ de la litt茅rature qu茅b茅coise par la traduction: argumentation, suivie d鈥檜n exemple (Dec 2017)

Sherry Simon. Villes en traduction : Calcutta, Trieste, Barcelone et Montr茅al. Trad. Pierrot Lambert. Montr茅al, Presses de l鈥橴niversit茅 de Montr茅al, 2013, 269 p. (Jan 2015)

The Nature of Borders. Salmon, Boundaries, and Bandits on the Salish Sea, Lissa K. Wadewitz, University of Washington Press and UBC Press, 2012. 271 p. (Apr 2014)

Traduire A. M. Klein : les po猫mes de l鈥櫭﹑oque de la 芦 Chaise ber莽ante 禄 (Mar 2012)

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Recent publications

Chapter 4 An Ultraminor Literature: English Writing in Montreal (Fall 2021)

La litt茅rature anglophone au Qu茅bec (May 2020)