The obscure workings of identity memory in the debates emerging from a new religious diversity in Quebec
This article aims to understand the indignation of a good part of the Quebec population against religion—starting with its own religion, Catholicism, whose traces are nearly disappearing, to that of the Other, Islam, which is more visible among the new wave of immigration. It posits the hypothesis that this impasse in identity building manifests the ambivalence of this segment of the population, which is mostly of French-Canadian descent, towards what was the religion, or its religion. Seemingly on a road to nowhere, this phenomenon is part and parcel of the current process of identity production. This process, which is still in the making, represents the vanishing of not only the religious component of the French-Canadian identity but also of the broader, traditional North American and Canadian frame of reference. The neo-nationalist recomposition of identity during the last half century has revolved around the term “Québécois,” which denotes the geopolitical space as being crucial, if not exclusive, and around the notion of inclusive citizenship, which assigns a citizenship status to all inhabitants, old and new alike. This term therefore conceals at least two identity markers that have emerged from the public discourse about identity: religious ethnicity and membership to the broader territory of French Canada, Canada or North America. The identity of today’s Quebecker has come to consume that of all French Canadians. This article seeks to clarify the various layers of identity memory, including its obscure role in current debates and to, in conclusion, propose essential steps for a collective future.