The Other Poulin
This article presents a synthesis of Jacques Poulin’s critical reception in English Canada between 1973 and 1989. Whereas Poulin’s novels were unanimously acclaimed in Quebec, they met, although translated, with mixed reception within the anglophone literary institution. This study shows significant differences in the way Poulin’s work is judged and read by Canada’s main linguistic and interpretive communities. Notwithstanding some positive comments, the anglophone critics have difficulties with Poulin’s simple prose, with his preferred themes, and his anglo-saxon literary influences. Could it be that the most American of Quebecois novelists does not meet the expectations of anglophone readers ? Since all but two critics wrote about the English version of Poulin’s texts, how did the translation factor impact on their reception ? It looks as if a majority of English Canadian critics do not recognize the alterity in Jacques Poulin’s novels, the difference they are looking for when they read Quebecois writers, the difference that dictates their interest in Quebecois literature.