Les discours ruraux, urbains et périurbains du cinéma québécois

Fictional narratives help identify novel perspectives regarding both socio-spatial practices and perceptions of space. By extracting geographic data out of cinematic narratives, it is possible to investigate their relationship with major socio-spatial issues. This dissertation studies the territory of Quebec through its film production. More precisely, this research examines the way in which urban, rural and suburban areas are represented through Quebecois cinema. Narratives and spatial representations express values associated with the spaces and cultural practices produced by national development. The spatial representations under study offer, therefore, important insight into socio-spatial issues that are of concern to Québec society. The proposal to analyze cinematic representations in relation to the spatial practices has two main conceptual objectives. On the one hand, it is interested in developing a better understanding of the role of socio-spatial practices in shaping cinematographic representations. On the other hand, the analysis aims at elaborating a comprehensive definition of contemporary urban, rural and suburban areas, revealing their complexity and ongoing transformation. Thus, the goal is to deploy Quebec cinema as an analytical tool in order to identify the diversity of socio-spatial discourses. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to interpret discourses are combined for a comprehensive analysis. The chosen method is a critical discourse analysis (CDA), which takes account of ideologies and seeks the denaturalization of discourses. In a nutshell, the analysis involves the identification of relationships between observed spatial representations and the socio-economic context in which they are embedded.  The empirical basis for this analysis is a corpus of 50 Quebec films produced between 1980 and 2008, analyzed by using a comprehensive reading grid.  Spatial and statistical analysis as well as qualitative interpretation were used, in turn, to examine the resulting data. The quantitative analysis shows that urban and rural worlds are often set in opposition. In general, filmmakers associate urban space with Montreal, while the rest of Quebec is represented in relationship to rural spaces.  Dominant representations of Montreal suggest a fragmented city, constantly in motion, and deeply influenced by global cultural and economic flows. In contrast to these globalizing urban representations, filmmakers propose rural areas free from work, focused on private space and community spirit. Accordingly, cinematographic discourses imply that ever increasing urbanization undermines community development. In light of this presumed loss of community, certain films mobilize the development of local identity. The latter links a set of values to a community or a territory in order to distinguish itself from the presumably homogenizing impact of globalization. Despite the presence of these overarching narratives, the quantitative analysis also reveals deep contradictions within each kind of territory. The qualitative analysis allows for further interpretation, revealing seven distinct territorial discourses in the films under study. These discourses challenge a fragmented view of the city, encouraging at times the reappropriation of the urban environment by citizens.  Rural territories, on the other hand, are represented as violence and crisis-prone, while one can also obverse the emergence of discourses surrounding suburban areas. One is led to conclude that the diversity of discourses reflects a heterogeneity of socio-spatial practices, which in turn challenges the idea of one dominant discourse. This fine-grained analysis highlights a series of social negotiations that underpin the contemporary transformation of Quebec.  Ultimately, this thesis contributes to a better use of film as a support material for geographic analysis, by offering a clear and original methodological approach. At a conceptual level, it demonstrates the complexity and dynamism of Québec territorial representations, as well as the legitimization strategies used by filmmakers to address the socio-spatial issues experienced in the province.

Keyphrases: Québec, Rural, Corpus, Quebec, Geography, Territory, Urban, Suburban, Cinema, Representation