Beheading the Saint: Nationalism, Religion, and Secularism in Quebec

By Geneviève Zubrzycki

Book Overview

Through much of its existence, Qu bec's neighbors called it the "priest-ridden province." Today, however, Qu bec society is staunchly secular, with a modern welfare state built on lay provision of social services--a transformation rooted in the "Quiet Revolution" of the 1960s.
In Beheading the Saint, Genevi ve Zubrzycki studies that transformation through a close investigation of the annual Feast of St. John the Baptist of June 24. The celebrations of that national holiday, she shows, provided a venue for a public contesting of the dominant ethno-Catholic conception of French Canadian identity and, via the violent rejection of Catholic symbols, the articulation of a new, secular Qu b cois identity. From there, Zubrzycki extends her analysis to the present, looking at the role of Qu b cois identity in recent debates over immigration, the place of religious symbols in the public sphere, and the politics of cultural heritage--issues that also offer insight on similar debates elsewhere in the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 022639168X
• ISBN13: 9780226391687
• Release Date: December 2016
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"