Jacques Godbout
Encyclopedia
Jacques Godbout, CQ
(born November 27, 1933) is a Canadian
novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist
, filmmaker and poet
. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler (touche-à-tout), Godbout has become one of the most important writers of his generation, with a major influence on post-1960 Quebec intellectual life.
, Quebec
, after studies at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
and the Université de Montréal
, Godbout taught French
in Ethiopia
before joining the National Film Board of Canada
(NFB) as producer and scriptwriter in 1958.
He was active during Quebec's Quiet Revolution
during which time he wrote a number of penetrating essays, the most important of which were collected in Le Réformiste (1975) and Le Murmure marchand (1984).
Godbout was a co-founder of Liberté (1959), the Mouvement laique de la langue française (1962) and the Union des écrivains québecois (1977). Godbout's films include four full-length features and more than 15 documentaries. He has also written nine novels for adults and two for children. Godbout currently writes a monthly column in the Quebec newsmagazine
L'actualité
.
Godbout lives in Outremont, a former city now in Montreal. He is the grand-nephew of former Quebec Premier Adélard Godbout
.
Godbout's novel Une histoire américaine
(1986) was chosen for inclusion in the French
version of Canada Reads
, broadcast on Radio-Canada
in 2004, where it was championed by union
activist and professor
Gérald Larose
.
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec...
(born November 27, 1933) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, filmmaker and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler (touche-à-tout), Godbout has become one of the most important writers of his generation, with a major influence on post-1960 Quebec intellectual life.
Biography
Born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, after studies at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf is a private French-language educational institution offering secondary school and CEGEP college-level instruction in Montreal, Quebec. It is a co-ed establishment for students in their final year of secondary school and in college. It is boys-only in the first four years...
and the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
, Godbout taught French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
before joining the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
(NFB) as producer and scriptwriter in 1958.
He was active during Quebec's Quiet Revolution
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
during which time he wrote a number of penetrating essays, the most important of which were collected in Le Réformiste (1975) and Le Murmure marchand (1984).
Godbout was a co-founder of Liberté (1959), the Mouvement laique de la langue française (1962) and the Union des écrivains québecois (1977). Godbout's films include four full-length features and more than 15 documentaries. He has also written nine novels for adults and two for children. Godbout currently writes a monthly column in the Quebec newsmagazine
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
L'actualité
L'actualité
L'actualité is a Canadian French-language news and general interest magazine published in Montreal by Les Éditions Rogers, which is owned by Rogers Communications. The magazine has over a million readers, according to Canada's Print Measurement Bureau, from its circulation which is mainly...
.
Godbout lives in Outremont, a former city now in Montreal. He is the grand-nephew of former Quebec Premier Adélard Godbout
Adélard Godbout
Joseph-Adélard Godbout was an agronomist and politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the 15th Premier of Quebec briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944. He was also leader of the Parti Libéral du Québec .-Youth and early career:Adélard Godbout was born in Saint-Éloi...
.
Godbout's novel Une histoire américaine
Une histoire américaine
Une histoire américaine is a novel published in 1986 by Canadian novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker and poet, Jacques Godbout....
(1986) was chosen for inclusion in the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
version of Canada Reads
Canada Reads
Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...
, broadcast on Radio-Canada
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
in 2004, where it was championed by union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activist and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Gérald Larose
Gérald Larose
Gérald Larose is a Quebec activist, professor, and former President of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux labour union...
.
Awards and recognition
- Chevalier of the National Order of QuebecNational Order of QuebecThe National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec...
- Awarded the 2007 Prix Maurice GenevoixPrix Maurice GenevoixThe Prix Maurice Genevoix is an annual French literary award made in honor of its namesake Maurice Genevoix ....
for La concierge du Panthéon - Nominated for a 1997 Governor General's Award for children's literature1997 Governor General's AwardsThe winners of the 1997 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced on November 18 by Donna Scott, Chairman of the Canada Council for the Arts...
for Une leçon de chasse - Winner of the Quebec government's Prix Athanase-DavidPrix Athanase-DavidThe Prix Athanase-David is a literary award presented annually by the government of Quebec as part of the Prix du Québec to a Quebec writer, to honour the body of his or her work....
in 1985 - Prix Belgique-Canada (1978)
- Winner of the 1967 Governor General's Award for Fiction1967 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1967 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Poetry or Drama: Alden Nowlan, Bread, Wine and Salt....
for Salut Galarneau!
Poetry
- Carton pâte — 1956
- Les pavés secs — 1958
- C'est la chaude loi des hommes — 1960
- La grande muraille de Chine — 1969
- Souvenirs Shop — poèmes et proses — 1984
Fiction
- L'aquarium — 1962
- La couteau sur la table — 1965 (translated into English as The Knife on The Table)
- Salut Galarneau! — 1967 (winner of the 1967 Governor General's Award for Fiction1967 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1967 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Poetry or Drama: Alden Nowlan, Bread, Wine and Salt....
; translated into English as Hail Galarneau!) - D'amour P.Q. — 1972
- L'isle au dragon — 1976 (translated into English as Dragon Island)
- Les têtes à Papineau — 1981
- Une histoire américaineUne histoire américaineUne histoire américaine is a novel published in 1986 by Canadian novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker and poet, Jacques Godbout....
— 1986 - Le temps des Galarneau — 1993
- Opération Rimbaud — 1999
Non-fiction
- Le réformiste: textes tranquilles — 1975
- Le murmure marchand — 1984
- Abécédaire Québécois — 1988
- L'écran du bonheur — 1990
- L'écrivain de province: journal 1981–1990 — 1991
- Le sort de l'Amérique — 1997
Children's literature
- Une leçon de chasse — 1997 (nominated for a Governor General's Award1997 Governor General's AwardsThe winners of the 1997 Governor General's Literary Awards were announced on November 18 by Donna Scott, Chairman of the Canada Council for the Arts...
) - Mes petites fesses — 1998
Fiction
- YUL 871 (1966)
- Kid Sentiment (1967)
- IXE-13 (1971)
- La gammick (1974)
Documentaries
- À Saint-Henri le cinq septembre
- Les Administrateurs
- L'Affaire Norman William
- Aimez-vous les chiens?
- Alias Will James
- Anglo Blues
- Anne Hébert, 1916–2000
- Bientôt Noâl
- Les Canadiens
- Cinéma vérité : le moment décisif
- Comme en Californie
- Derrière l'image
- Deux épisodes dans la vie d'Hubert Aquin
- Les Dieux
- Distorsions
- L'École des peintres
- En dernier recours
- L'Extràme-Nord canadien
- Fabienne sans son Jules
- Feu l'objectivité
- Les héritiers du mouton noir
- Huit témoins
- L'Invasion (1775–1975)
- L'Invention du stress
- Jacques de Tonnancour, une interview
- Les Maîtres-sondeurs
- Marée au Ghana
- Le monde va nous prendre pour des sauvages
- Le Mouton noirLe Mouton noirLe Mouton Noir is a Quebec documentary produced in 1992 by the National Film Board of Canada . Jacques Godbout directed and starred in the film...
- Paul-Émile Borduas (1905–1960)
- Les Petits Arpents
- Pour l'amour du stress
- Pour quelques arpents de neige
- Le Prospecteur et la Technique
- Quand vient l'été
- Québec Soft (La musique adoucit les moeurs)
- Rose et Landry
- Le Sort de l'Amérique
- Tàtes blanches
- Le Tir au fusil
- Traître ou PatrioteTraître ou PatrioteTraître ou Patriote is a Quebec documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 2000. It is directed by and starring Jacques Godbout. Its style belongs to the Quebec cinéma direct school of filmmaking.-Synopsis:It analyzes the place of Quebec Premier Adélard Godbout in history...
- Travail d'équipe et Recherches agricoles
- Les "Troubbes" de Johnny
- Un monologue Nord-Sud
- Une Leçon de chasse
- Vivre sa ville
- Les Vrais Cousins
See also
- List of Quebec writers
- List of Quebec film directors
- List of Quebec movies
- Literature of Quebec
- Culture of QuebecCulture of QuebecThe Culture of Quebec emerged over the last few hundred years, resulting from the shared history of the French-speaking majority in Quebec. It is unique to the Western World; Quebec is the only region in North America with a French-speaking majority, as well as one of only two provinces in Canada...
- Cinema of Quebec
External links
- Watch films by Jacques Godbout at NFB.ca Jacques Godbout fonds at Library and Archives Canada