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The Blue Shirts

Adrien Arcand and Fascist Anti-Semitism in Canada

by (author) Hugues Théorêt

translated by Ferdinanda Van Gennip & Howard Scott

Publisher
University of Ottawa Press
Initial publish date
May 2017
Subjects
Social History
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780776624693
    Publish Date
    May 2017
    List Price
    $79.90

Library Ordering Options

Description

While Adolf Hitler was seizing power in Germany, Adrien Arcand was laying the foundations in Quebec for his Parti national social chrétien. The Blue Shirts, as its members were called, wore a military uniform and prominently displayed the swastika. Arcand saw Jewish conspiracy wherever he turned and his views resonated with his followers who, like him, sought a scapegoat for all the ills eroding society.
Even after his imprisonment during the Second World War, the fanatical Adrien Arcand continued his correspondence with those on the frontlines of anti-semitism. Until his death in 1967, he pursued his campaign of propaganda against communists and Jews.
Hugues Théorêt describes a dark period in Quebec’s ideological history using an objective approach and careful, rigorous research in this book, which won the 2015 Canada Prize (Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences).
Ce livre est publié en anglais.

About the authors

Hugues Théorêt holds a PhD in History (University of Ottawa). A journalist, media relations officer and intergovernmental affairs consultant, he has collaborated on a number of documentary series for television on the history of Canada. He is also editor of a historical journal in the Outaouais region and lectures on fascism and anti-semitism in Canada.

Hugues Théorêt's profile page

Ferdinanda Van Gennip is the translator of several works of non-fiction, including A Nation Beyond Borders: Lionel Groulx on French-Canadian Minorities by Michel Bock (University of Ottawa Press, 2014), Breaking Point: Quebec/Canada, the 1995 Referendum by Mario Cardinal (Bayard Canada/CBC, 2005) and How to Befriend Your Shadow by John Monbourquette (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2001). She holds a BA in French Translation and French-Canadian Studies from Queen’s University and an MDiv from the Toronto School of Theology.

Ferdinanda Van Gennip's profile page

Howard Scott is a Montreal literary translator who works with fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. His translations include works by Madeleine Gagnon, science-fiction writer Élisabeth Vonarburg, and Canada’s Poet Laureate, Michel Pleau. Scott received the Governor General’s Literary Award for his translation of Louky Bersianik’s The Euguelion. The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701, by Gilles Havard, which he co-translated with Phyllis Aronoff, won the Quebec Writers’ Federation Translation Award. A Slight Case of Fatigue, by Stéphane Bourguignon, another co-translation with Phyllis Aronoff, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Howard Scott is a past president of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada.

Howard Scott's profile page

Awards

  • Winner, Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature (History)
  • Winner, IPPY Awards (Independent Publisher Book Awards)
  • Winner, Foreword Indies Book of the Year Awards in World History category

Editorial Reviews

In his book Les chemises bleues, Hugues Théorêt [covers] a very serious subject: the life of Adrien Arcand, an intellectual and militant anti-Semite between 1930 and 1960 … , producing a patient, nuanced, humanist, and contextualized narrative. Without a trace of sterile polemic, overinterpretation or an overly personal position, this book is an invaluable resource for understanding, from a Quebecois and Canadian perspective, a phenomenon that recurs throughout human history and that is not confined to Europe: hate speech.

Canada Prize 2014 Jury

Dans son livre Les chemises bleues, Hugues Théorêt se penche sur un sujet grave – la trajectoire d'Adrien Arcand, un intellectuel et militant antisémite des années 1930 à 1960 – [avec] une narration patiente, nuancée, humaniste et contextualisée. Loin des polémiques stériles, de la surinterprétation ou des positionnements trop personnels, cette étude s’avérera indispensable à la compréhension, sous un angle québécois et canadien, d’un phénomène récurrent dans l’histoire de l’humanité et non cantonné à l’Europe : le discours haineux.

Le Jury du Prix du Canada, 2014

Not enough is known about anti-Semitism in Canada. It is still endured by many Jewish Canadians and this beautifully written book brings the subject into much needed sharp relief.

The 2018 Vine Awards Jury