Gérard Bessette (25 February 1920 – 21 February 2005) was a Canadian writer and educator. Bessette was born in Sainte-Anne-de-Sabrevois, Quebec, and grew up in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He attended the Collège Saint-Ignace. He continued his studies at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, where in 1950 he completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

entitled ''Images in French-Canadian poetry''. Unable to obtain an academic position in Quebec because of his

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

, he taught at Duquesne University in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

from 1951 to 1957. He then found a job in Kingston, Ontario, first at Royal Military College of Canada in 1958, and then in the Department of French Studies at Queen's University from 1959 to 1979. Bessette's novels ''L'incubation'' (1965) and ''Le cycle'' (1971) won the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction (French). In 1980 he was awarded the Prix Athanase-David, Quebec's highest literary honour. Several of Bessette's works address issues that led to and were representative of the Révolution tranquille, a series of societal shifts that took place in Quebec during the 1960s, which saw increased secularization and a general movement away from the influence of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. His earlier works are written in a realistic style, while his later novels utilize elements of the

nouveau roman The Nouveau Roman (, "new novel") is a type of French novel in the 1950s and 60s that diverged from traditional literary genres. Émile Henriot coined the term in an article in the popular French newspaper ''Le Monde'' on May 22, 1957 to describ ...

literary movement and tend to be more experimental. His literary criticism is noted for its Freudian readings of Québécois literature. One of his most noted works is '' Le libraire'' (1960), an existential tale of a book store employee in a small Quebec town in the 1950s. The book deals with one of Bessette's most common themes: the stifling culture of Quebec of that time. His work was also part of the literature event in the art competition at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. He died on

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, on 21 February 2005.

Bibliography

Novels

*''La Bagarre'' (1958) (translated as ''The Brawl'') *''Le Libraire'' (1960) (translated as ''Not for Every Eye'') *''Les Pédagogues'' (1961) *''L'Incubation'' (1965) (translated as ''Incubation'') *''Le Cycle'' (1971) (translated as ''The Cycle'') *''La Commensale'' (1975) *''Les Anthropoïdes'' (1977) *''Le Semestre'' (1979) *''Les Dires d'Omer Marin'' (1985)

Essays

* ''Les Images en poésie canadienne-française'' (1960; 1967) * ''Une littérature en ébullition'' (1968) * ''Histoire de la littérature canadienne-française par les textes : des origines à nos jours'' (edited with Lucien Geslin and Charles Parent, 1968) * ''De Québec à Saint-Boniface'' (editor, 1968) * ''Trois romanciers québécois'' (1973) * ''Mes romans et moi'' (1979)

Other

* ''Poèmes temporels'' (1962) * ''La Garden-party de Christophine'' (1980, short stories)

Awards and honours

* 1948: Prix du Concours littéraire de la province de Québec * 1961: Prix du Grand Jury des lettres for ''Le Libraire'' * 1965: Governor General's Award for French-language fiction for ''L'Incubation'' * 1966: Member of the Royal Society of Canada * 1971: Governor General's Award for French-language fiction for ''Le Cycle'' * 1980: Prix Athanase-David

References

* France, Peter (Ed.) (1995). ''The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. .
"Gérard Bessette," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2009Archived
2009-10-31)

External links

Remise du prix du Québec
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bessette, Gerard 1920 births 2005 deaths Canadian male novelists People from Montérégie Writers from Quebec Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Prix Athanase-David winners Academic staff of the Royal Military College of Canada Canadian novelists in French 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers Art competitors at the 1948 Summer Olympics Canadian expatriate writers in the United States Collège Ahuntsic alumni Novelists from Ontario Novelists from Quebec