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The Hand of GodClaude Ryan and the Fate of Canadian Liberalism, 1925-1971 |
eBook Available
A magisterial biography of a major Canadian and Quebec public intellectual.
Set against a background of intense religious and cultural change and tensions over the meanings of nationalism and federalism in both Quebec and Canada, Michael Gauvreau's The Hand of God traces the emergence of Claude Ryan as a public intellectual. This is the first comprehensive biography of Ryan based on his personal papers and extensive writings as a social commentator, editorialist, and director of the newspaper Le Devoir.
At a time of Catholic religious fervour and new currents of social analysis, Ryan spoke for a postwar generation of young Quebecers, assuring his surprising ascension as one of the most influential voices in Canadian liberalism and federalism in the 1960s. In rich detail, Gauvreau describes Ryan’s ideas on religion, politics, and society, which assured his importance both as a major figure seeking the transformation of Roman Catholicism in the 1950s and 1960s and as an advocate of a type of liberalism that was often at odds with Pierre Elliott Trudeau's. He presents compelling new material on the breakdown of social and cultural consensus, a detailed analysis of Ryan’s personal and intellectual dealings with both Trudeau and René Lévesque, and a strikingly new interpretation of the motives of the key players in the October Crisis of 1970.
A significant rethinking of the relationship between liberalism, nationalism, and federalism in Quebec in the twentieth century, The Hand of God uses biography as a lens to explore and shed new light on questions central to postwar Quebec and Canadian cultural, political, and intellectual history.
At a time of Catholic religious fervour and new currents of social analysis, Ryan spoke for a postwar generation of young Quebecers, assuring his surprising ascension as one of the most influential voices in Canadian liberalism and federalism in the 1960s. In rich detail, Gauvreau describes Ryan’s ideas on religion, politics, and society, which assured his importance both as a major figure seeking the transformation of Roman Catholicism in the 1950s and 1960s and as an advocate of a type of liberalism that was often at odds with Pierre Elliott Trudeau's. He presents compelling new material on the breakdown of social and cultural consensus, a detailed analysis of Ryan’s personal and intellectual dealings with both Trudeau and René Lévesque, and a strikingly new interpretation of the motives of the key players in the October Crisis of 1970.
A significant rethinking of the relationship between liberalism, nationalism, and federalism in Quebec in the twentieth century, The Hand of God uses biography as a lens to explore and shed new light on questions central to postwar Quebec and Canadian cultural, political, and intellectual history.
Details
Part of the Carleton Library Series (number 243 in series)
704 Pages, 6 x 9
8 photos
ISBN 9780773551299
October 2017
Formats: Cloth, eBook
“Artfully crafted, profoundly insightful, based on extensive scholarly and archival sources, The Hand of God not only offers a vivid and illuminating understanding of a key French-Canadian figure but also opens up a new perspective on Quebec that has not hitherto been accounted for in the historiography.” Jean-Philippe Warren, Concordia University and author of Un supplément d’âme: Les intentions primordiales de Fernand Dumont
Michael Gauvreau is professor of history at McMaster University and the author of a number of prize-winning works, including The Catholic Origins of Quebec’s Quiet Revolution, 1931-1970.
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xiii
Illustrations xv
Introduction: Becoming a Public Intellectual in Postwar Quebec 3
1 The New Christendom: A Poor Knight’s Quest, 1925-1945 12
2 The Bishops’ Man: Forging a Nation of Youth and Taming Action catholique, 1945-1951 60
3 “I Must See Rome Also,” 1951-1952 107
4 Diagnosing French Canada’s “Spiritual Schizophrenia”: The Travails of a Catholic Intellectual in “Late Christendom,” 1952-1958 131
5 “Are We Pagans?”: Coping with French Canada’s Religious Crisis, 1958-1962 174
6 “Deus Quod Operatus in Claudio Ryan”: Springtime in Church and State, 1962-1964 219
7 “The Dawn of a New Political Spring”: Biculturalism and the New Spirit of Federalism 266
8 Between Christendom and the “New Gods”: The Search for a Stable Society, 1964-1966 304
9 “We Choose the Canadian Hypothesis”: Defining the Ethics of Federalism, 1964 342
10 “There Have Always Been Some Bridge-men”: Navigating the Shoals of Federalism and Nationalism, 1964-1967 383
11 “Anger Rumbles over the City”: The Unravelling of the Quiet Revolution, 1967-1969 431
12 “This Bewildering Ambivalence”: The Dissolution of French Canada, 1967-1969 471
13 “The Prophetic Charisma of the Christian Journalist”: Disclosing the Meanings of the October Crisis 513
Epilogue 548
Notes 551
Index 667
Abbreviations xiii
Illustrations xv
Introduction: Becoming a Public Intellectual in Postwar Quebec 3
1 The New Christendom: A Poor Knight’s Quest, 1925-1945 12
2 The Bishops’ Man: Forging a Nation of Youth and Taming Action catholique, 1945-1951 60
3 “I Must See Rome Also,” 1951-1952 107
4 Diagnosing French Canada’s “Spiritual Schizophrenia”: The Travails of a Catholic Intellectual in “Late Christendom,” 1952-1958 131
5 “Are We Pagans?”: Coping with French Canada’s Religious Crisis, 1958-1962 174
6 “Deus Quod Operatus in Claudio Ryan”: Springtime in Church and State, 1962-1964 219
7 “The Dawn of a New Political Spring”: Biculturalism and the New Spirit of Federalism 266
8 Between Christendom and the “New Gods”: The Search for a Stable Society, 1964-1966 304
9 “We Choose the Canadian Hypothesis”: Defining the Ethics of Federalism, 1964 342
10 “There Have Always Been Some Bridge-men”: Navigating the Shoals of Federalism and Nationalism, 1964-1967 383
11 “Anger Rumbles over the City”: The Unravelling of the Quiet Revolution, 1967-1969 431
12 “This Bewildering Ambivalence”: The Dissolution of French Canada, 1967-1969 471
13 “The Prophetic Charisma of the Christian Journalist”: Disclosing the Meanings of the October Crisis 513
Epilogue 548
Notes 551
Index 667
9780773545960
$115.00 CAD
Cloth
