Since November of 2022, Professor Sébastien Côté from the Department of French has published three important pieces of research: a collection of 12 essays, an anthology of 18th-century French plays about New France, and a thematic issue of Revue d’histoire de l’Amérique française.
Thanks to a thorough analysis of more than 500 issues of the Mercure galant, and its supplements of a 400-page monthly periodical published between 1672 and 1715, the editors of this thematic issue brought important works back to life. Pertaining to relations and news of the New World with a focus on Canada, it represents more than 250,000 words, or 1000 pages in digital Word format. This analysis helped fill a void, as no prior scholarly articles had been dedicated to these colonial texts. As a result, eight new articles now shed light on the topic. In the era of social media, which has transformed our relationship with current news, this innovative contribution engages a reflection about the profound changes that happened at the turn of the 18th century during the reign of Louis XIV. Located at the crossroads of French and Canadian history and literary studies, this issue will soon be followed by an integral, online edition of the Pan-American content published in the Mercure galant. Sébastien Côté co-signs the introduction with the editors and one article with Christophe Schuwey.
Travel writing introduced New France to European élites as early as the 16th century, but what about fiction writing? In a 1913 classic essay, Gilbert Chinard has shown that mentions of North America were numerous in 18th-century french fiction, especially in theatre. This collection of essays confirms that, at the margins of mainstream French Enlightenment, works have discreetly shaped an imaginary continent. They reveal both the authors’ dreams and the expectations of the many audiences the works were created for. The 12 articles might address fiction that is virtually unknown, yet they shed light upon the relationship between France and its Canadian colony in the 18th-century. Sébastien Côté has one article and co-signs the lengthy introduction.
Rêver le Nouveau Monde has always been thought of as the companion to groundbreaking anthology La Nouvelle-France sur les planches parisiennes. The main question behind this long-term SSHRC-funded project was: is it possible to expand and enrich the written heritage of New France by drawing on French exotic fiction? The answer lies within the 16 plays that are now scholarly edited, presented and annotated. Some of them are published here for the first time, others had been long forgotten (in some cases for good reasons!). It is now easier to read and discover these unknown plays, composed of 15 comedies and one tragedy, which allowed the theatres of Paris to enjoy Canada as an exotic motif during the entire 18th century.