Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1998 Arthur Miller in Montreal: Cultural Transfer of American Plays in Quebec (1965-1997). Bernard Lavoie Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Lavoie, Bernard, "Arthur Miller in Montreal: Cultural Transfer of American Plays in Quebec (1965-1997)." (1998). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6785. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6785 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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ARTHUR MILLER IN MONTREAL: CULTURAL TRANSFER OF AMERICAN PLAYS IN QUEBEC (1965-1997) A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor o f Philosophy in The Department of Theatre by Bernard Lavoie B.A., Universite du Quebec a Montreal, 1981 M.F.A., University of California at Los Angeles, 1984 December 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9909827 UMI Microform 9909827 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS During the research period, I have had the pleasure of meeting many people who out of generosity and love of the theatre have been kind enough to help me. The public relations staffs of various theatre companies were very helpful in the early stage of the research: Compagnie Jean-Duceppe, Theatre de Quat'Sous, Theatre du Nouveau Monde, Theatre Populaire du Quebec and Le Grand Theatre Ordinaire. To all those people who generously opened the archives o f their theatres, thank you. I wish to thank the artists who kindly gave me their time and shared their precious recollections of productions of the past: Jean-Luc Bastien, Jeanine Beaubien, Andre Brassard, Raymond Cloutier, Serge Denoncourt, Yves Desgagnes, Monique Duceppe, Michel Dumont, Germain Houde, Rene Gingras, Paul Hebert, Claude Maher, Gerard Poirier, Guy Provost, Gilles Renaud, Jean-Louis Roux, Lionel Villeneuve. Their comments and hands-on knowledge of Miller's work proved invaluable. In the last few years, I have seen many individuals, students, and colleagues who were forced to abandon their graduate studies due to financial distress. Many thanks to the people and institutions who believed in me and supported me financially. Thanks to my brother Normand Lavoie, thanks to my friends Benoit Rousseau and Johanne Leveille, thanks to Les Fonds FCAR, thanks to UQAM’s Programme de mise a jour des connaissances, and thanks to the Association Quebec-Louisiane. Without the financial support I received, studying in Louisiana would have been impossible. Several teachers I have met through the years have been of utmost importance in my development as an artist and a scholar. They are: Andre Bourassa (UQAM), Michael ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. McClain, Michael Gordon (UCLA), Gresdna Doty, and Bill Harbin (LSU). The numerous classes and discussions I have had with them were always challenging and helpful. I also would like to give a special thanks to Les Wade. Through the lengthy process of doubts and indecision in the dissertation writing, he was always there to put me back on track. Many thanks to my dear friend Louise Ringuet who patiently revised the text. Without her this dissertation would not have reached its final form. And finally, thank you so much to my life companion Louise Lalonde, with whom I shared the Louisiana adventure. Her continuous support and love through the periods of discouragement and doubts made the completion of the dissertation possible. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................ii Abstract....................................................................................................................................v Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Parti Quebecois translation in context............................................................................ 13 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................ 14 Linguistic and Geographical Identity........................................................ 14 Chapter 2 ...................................................................................................................28 A Brief History of Theatre Translation in Q uebec..................................... 28 Chapter 3 ...................................................................................................................44 A Long Habit of Appropriation....................................................................44 Part 2 Arthur Miller in M ontreal......................................................................................... 52 Chapter 4 ...................................................................................................................55 Arthur Miller: A Short Biography Combined With a Chronology of the Presentation of His Plays in Montreal.............................................. 55 Chapter 5 ...................................................................................................................61 Perception of Arthur Miller’s Work in M ontreal....................................... 61 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 116 Arthur Miller in Montreal: Territoriality and Verisimilitude............................... 116 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 121 Appendix 1 ....................................................................................................................... 132 Interview List........................................................................................................ 132 Appendix 2 ....................................................................................................................... 133 List of Miller's Plays Produced in Montreal (including casting)........................ 133 V ita.................................................................................................................................... 146 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT In the 1960s, American plays presented in Montreal were translated in France; the following decade saw the first of American plays translated or adapted in Quebec. In the 1980s, the translative practices employed in the seventies proved the dominant mode. In the 1990s, only exceptionally has an American play been presented in a translation originating outside of Quebec. It is now the rule that all foreign plays produced in Quebec are translated in the Quebecois idiom. This translative situation has stabilized, and