CANADIAN LITERATURE IN FRENCH

Canadian literature in French The French language in Canada The valley of the St. Lawrence River, first explored by Jacques Cartier during his second voyage to North America in 1535, was colonized by France during the 17th and 18th centuries. When New France was ceded to Britain in 1763, the Roman Catholic population of more than 60,000 persons spoke a language that was already a blend of several French dialects, although French was then not yet standardized in France itself. After the British victory over New France, immigration from France virtually ceased, but the number of French-speaking inhabitants continued to increase. About five-sixths of Canada's Francophones live in the province of Quebec and refer to themselves as Qubcois. Their literature, called French-Canadian or littrature qubcoise, records their common history and expresses their unique identity. The French rgime, 1535-1760 During these two centuries not a page of French was printed in New France; there was no printing press in the colony until after the establishment of British rule. The substantial colonial literature written in and about New France was published in France for a European audience. It included accounts of discovery and exploration, official reports and correspondence, travelers' narratives, annals of missions and religious communities, and histories of the colony. These manuscripts and printed texts were supplemented by an abundant oral literature composed of folk songs, folktales, and legends. Considerable scholarly effort has been expended on the recovery and study of the rich heritage of oral traditions and literary works surviving from the French period.