Essay in French
The main objective of this study is to examine the literary production of Zebedee Nungak, an Inuit author from Nunavik, in the treatment he reserves for the figure of the Other, of the Qallunaat (the White). The figure of the Other, as it appears in Nungak's texts, gives rise to and favors postcolonial speaking, since the Inuk himself produces the discourse instead of being the object of it. With the idea of exploring the figure of the Other as constructed by three Inuit authors, including Nungak, the first chapter of this thesis studies the concept of otherness by favoring the semiotic approach. When the Inuk operate a change of status and become the subject of its own discourse, he designates its “Other”: the “Qallunaat”. The study of the figure of the Qallunaat in three Inuit autobiographical texts reveals in what ways the presence of this Other allows the authors to pass a critical judgment on their culture and their identity in full change. In the second chapter, the author defines what is understood, in the case of the Inuit, by "the elaboration of a postcolonial speech" by paying special attention to the thought of Édouard Glissant. The choice of such an approach favors putting into perspective the conditions for the emergence of Inuit literature written in Nunavik. The author analyzes how, by means of the figure of Qallunaat constructed by Nungak in his texts, speaking takes shape and how it is associated with a political and cultural act. In the last chapter, the author is particularly interested in Nungak's use of satire in his treatment of qallunology (this science that Nungak invented for his study of Qallunaat), but also in most of his texts. The satire that unfolds in Nungak's texts testifies to the “clash of cultures” and acts as an instrument for speaking out. With this in mind, the author examines how, by promoting dialogue between Inuit and Qallunaat, satire is akin to what Glissant calls a “poetics of Relation”.
To download this essay in French.
Clara Mongeon-Bourbonnais, “La figure du Qallunaat : Zebedee Nungak et la prise de parole inuit”, Université du Québec à Montréal, MA thesis in literary studies, 2014, 129p.