The Structural Stability of the Quebecer Public Sphere, 1956-1966 An Inquiry in the Elites' Power Struggles Francis Therrien Master’s Thesis in Media Studies (Nordic Media) Institutt for medier og kommunikasjon Universitetet i Oslo May 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND FOREWORD The thesis contained in the following pages is the result of a full year of work in Oslo, Montreal and Rome. However, this work is not solely mine. In addition to the multitude of important thinkers and social scientists that made my own work possible, the contribution of my supervisor, Terje Rasmussen is substantive. From the discussions we had around the development of a research project, to his insightful feedback and the use his own published work, Terje’s presence is underlying the entirety of my thesis. I appreciate the great level of freedom that I could enjoy being supervised by him; yet it came with good advice and thorough exchanges in person – before that a pandemic hit the globe. In addition to that, I am indebted to two scholars in Quebec who reviewed the Chapter 3 of my thesis to ensure the validity of the information I have put forward. Indeed, Anne- Marie Brunelle (Université du Québec à Montréal) – who has been an excellent teacher of mine at the bachelor’s level – appraised the section on the media; while Jean-Philippe Warren (Concordia University) kindly accepted to assess the section on the parliamentarianism – even if I were an unknown person to him. I should also thank my friends Simon Zemp (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) for proofreading the Chapter 1; and Marit Bredeli Kveim (Universitetet i Oslo) for the validation of the Bokmål summary of my thesis. On a more personal level, I would like to mention the support I got from my family and friends during this whole degree. My parents and brother who always supported me in any project, whether it is tacitly or with logistical help like when moving from a place to another, gave me the confidence to pursue studies abroad. I will be eternally grateful to them for that, but also for everything else they have done for me. For my friends in Montreal, I would like to thank them for making me feel as if I had never left for Oslo both times I came home during the last two years and for sticking with me despite the distance, especially Francis Huot and Jeanne who generously hosted me twice, but also Laurence, Laura, Andréanne, Francis Allard, Nicolas and Marc-Olivier. For my friends in Oslo, I would like to thank everyone who made me feel home kilometres away from where I am from. I should probably mention first Marit and Marie with the occasional family dinners, in addition to Adrian, Alejandra, Eva, Hege, Ida, Ane, Bram and Anouk. ii Finally, I would like to appreciate the indirect contribution of institutions that rendered this thesis possible. The most important one is probably Universitetet i Oslo who granted me a place in the Nordic Media program which gave me the opportunity to study in a free postgraduate program, even as a foreigner. In addition to the institution itself and its excellent facilities especially the library, the people part of the University also gave me great opportunities. Whether it was my colleagues who allowed me to represent them at the Department’s board, the remarkable administrative staff who was always there to help or Trine Syvertsen who devoted herself for a good integration of the students of the program in the first semester, notably with a week-long seminar in Copenhagen, it was a chance to be around so many good people. I should also acknowledge Det norske institutt i Roma that offered me a scholarship for five weeks of research and study in their superb edifice. A last institution that made my thesis possible is Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, whether it is for its physical space and collection or its indispensable digital offer. This institution is central to the development of knowledge on Quebec. Supervision: Terje Rasmussen (Spring 2019 – Spring 2020) iii TABLE OF CONTENT SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................................... vi RÉSUMÉ ............................................................................................................................................................... vi SAMMENDRAG ................................................................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND CONCEPTUALISATION ........................................................... 1 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Prior to the public sphere: the public realm ....................................................................................... 4 3. The public sphere as a legitimation entity in democracies .................................................................. 8 3.1. Pre-Habermassian public sphere ..................................................................................................... 9 3.2. Habermas’s view on the public sphere ........................................................................................... 12 3.3. Rejoinders to The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1989) ......................................... 14 3.4. Alternative propositions for a public sphere .................................................................................. 17 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY OF AN EXISTING PUBLIC SPHERE ..................................................... 21 4. The case of Norway and Gripsrud (2017a) ....................................................................................... 21 4.1. The Norwegian public sphere, 1945–1980 .................................................................................... 22 5. The case of Quebec and how to study it ........................................................................................... 24 5.1. The case of Quebec ....................................................................................................................... 24 5.1.1. 1956–1966 ............................................................................................................................. 25 5.2. The use of Gripsrud (2017a) in Quebec ........................................................................................ 27 5.2.1. Moving the “threads” from Norway to Quebec ...................................................................... 28 5.2.2. Operationalisation of the study .............................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER 3: ELEMENTS OF THE QUEBECER PUBLIC SPHERE ............................................... 32 6. The media in Quebec, 1956–1966 ................................................................................................... 32 6.1. The historiography of the media in Quebec .................................................................................. 33 6.2. Media and technology ................................................................................................................... 35 6.3. Media system in Quebec ............................................................................................................... 36 6.3.1. Newspapers ............................................................................................................................ 37 6.3.2. Electronic media .................................................................................................................... 43 6.3.3. Alternative printed press ........................................................................................................ 48 6.3.4. Intellectual printed press ........................................................................................................ 54 7. The Parliamentarianism of Quebec, 1956–1966 .............................................................................. 61 7.1. The electoral and the party systems ............................................................................................... 62 7.2. A selection of conflicts .................................................................................................................. 64 7.3. The legislatures .............................................................................................................................. 65 7.3.1. The 25th legislature, 1956–1960 ............................................................................................. 66 7.3.2. The 26th legislature, 1960–1962 ............................................................................................. 72 7.3.3. The 27th legislature, 1962–1966 ............................................................................................. 79 CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................. 83 8. The fabric of the public sphere in Quebec, 1956–1966 ..................................................................... 83 8.1. The distinction between the public and the private sphere ........................................................... 84 iv 8.2. The degree of freedom of speech and of information .................................................................... 86 8.3. The level of interaction and of embedment between spheres