Quebec Studies: CDNS4510A

CDNS5003A FINS4510A Summer 2013:

Quebec city Field Trip

Quebec Studies: CDNS5003A - summer

2013: Quebec City Field Trip – Course

professor: Anne Trepanier - Reflection #1

& the first 6 logs By: Ghada G. A. Mohamed

In this document I present the first reflection of the course in addition to the second reflection

and the ten required logs days of the field trip to Quebec City dated from Monday 27th to

Thursday June 6th, 2013

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When the arts

talk about the

nation, the

nationalism and

the national

identity

When the glory of the

history narrates its story

in a coherent

methodological

succession; this

analytical piece can

reflect what’s behind the

scene.

Three collections

narrate what’s

behind the scene By: Ghada G. A. Mohamed

Musée des Beaux-Arts du Québec, the Musée de l’Amérique

Française, the Musée de la civilisation and Musée de la place Royale.

Sources:

On-line sources:

Le musée des Beaux-Arts du Québec:

http://www.mnba.qc.ca/Afficher.aspx?page=1113&langue=en

Le musée de l’Amérique Française: http://www.mcq.org/en/maf/

Le musée de la civilisation: http://www.mcq.org/index_en.html

Le musée de la place Royale: http://www.mcq.org/en/cipr/index.html

Readings:

- Alun Munslow Narrative and History Narrating the past

- Alun Munslow History as expression

- Homi K. Bhabha Nation and narration

- Timothy Brennan, The National Longing for form

- Homi K. Bhabha, Dissemination

- Paul Ricoeur, Memory, History, Forgetting. Translated by

Kathleen Blamey and David Pellauer

- Paul Ricoeur, The Historian’s Representation – Representation

and Narration

- Paul Ricoeur, Representation and Rhetoric

- Kieran Keohane, Symptoms of Canada. An Essay on Canadian

Identity. University of Toronto Press, 1997, 198 pages.

o Chapter 2: National Identity and the Theft of National

enjoyment.

o Chapter 10: Socializing with Cyborgs: In the Restaurant

at the End of the Trans-Canada Highway.

http://www.trekbd.com/2011/11/notre-dame-basilica-cathedral-at-quebec.html The

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Log 1: My field trip to Quebec City

Log 2: The glory of the past & the identity of the present

Log 3: The herald of the past & the cross in the heart

Log 4: Facing Champlain

Log 5: Identity Conflicts

Log 6: The Fate of America

Log 7: The language of the history

Log 8: The lion and the lily – Je Me Souviens

Log 9: A lot of walking

Log 10: Living in a world heritage city

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Reflection 1:

Three collections narrate what’s behind the

scene:

Source of pictures: http://www.mnba.qc.ca/Contenu.aspx?page=1529&langue=en,

http://www.mcq.org/en/maf/expositions.php?idEx=w3705, http://www.mcq.org/place-royale/en/questions.php?question=2

http://www.trekbd.com/2011/11/notre-dame-basilica-cathedral-at-quebec.html The

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Unlike Alun Munslow; Narrative and History; I begin by supporting strict

constructionists that no further investigation is required with a clear text. Unlike

Munslow’s argument; I argue that the history represents the past, its epics and glory

and nothing but the past without explanation or interpretation. Like Alun Munslow;

History as expression; museums, heritage and memorials are the painters’ modes of

historians. Like Paul Ricoeur; The Historian’s Representation; the history book has its

readers. Readers do nothing but reading what has been written as a narration to the

past as facts and knowledge. From here I start reading le musée des Beaux Arts du

Quebec, le musée de l’Amerique Francaise, le musée de la civilization and musée de

la place Royale as books of history that presents the past and nothing but the past

without explanation or interpretation.

More than 37000 works dating from the 17th

century in the Musee des Beaux Arts du

Quebec, the clear representation of the past represented in the Musee de l’Amerique

Francaise founded by Monseigneur de Laval in 1663 could depict the past with its

religious power, with its armor glory. All collections including ancient coins, medals,

fossils, paintings books, etc. dated back to 1806 writes only one message to all

readers; the history is the past and the past is the clear history of Quebec City without

explanation or interpretation. This message was even clearer in the Musee de la

civilization and Musée de la place Royale that the French culture has the power, the

roots, and the herald of the city. The history before them has been abrogated. Even

the Americans and the British with all their collections, objects, religious symbols in

all of those Museums could not change this clear message.

The succession was clear in all paintings; the methodology was coherent. Everything

in those museums was well organized and well colored to confirm the identity of the

city; be Quebecois or not to be – be French or not to be. No single proof of

multiculturalism could be found on those museums. It again confirms on my

argument that the history is the past and the past is the history. The past still

determines the identity of the city but not all the past; only the past that can be

accepted to be shown to public readers or public visitors. The Scattered Indigenous

people' objects and collections show political compromise more than artistic reality

which have created a distortion in the coherence of the succession of the identified

artistic events.

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Three types of collections combined the vocabularies of my telling story; THE

DETAILS JACQUES CARTIER RENCONTRE LES INDIENS À STADACONÉ,

1535 in the Musee des Beaux Arts du Quebec, the priests’ collections in the Musee de

l’Amerique Francaise, and the Founding of Québec painting in the Musée de la place

Royale. Those collections show the foundation, the existence, and the insistence on

weaving the national identity from the past to the present as an independent nation in

terms of culture, language, religion, and power. Despite secularism and

multiculturalism evolution, the city still lives the past, the herald of Mary the virgin

still flies in the city's skyline, and the cross still lies in its sacred heart and on its

national flag. Quebec City in my view is a unique story that contradicts Homi K.

Bhabha’s view in his “Narrating the Nation” book that the nation loses its origin in

the myth of time. In contrary to his view, Quebec City has never lost its origin that is

related in its memory to July 3, 1608 when Champlain and his group of 27 men

landed on the riverbank. The memory of the walls of Quebec City cannot remember

the time before and cannot recognize the present time. The walls do not tell the

struggle of the Indigenous or the presence of immigrants but in very few words.

Quebec City is the nation that lies inside a different nation.

Ghada Mohamed, Quebec City, June 2nd

, 2013

Sources:

On-line sources:

- Musee des Beaux Arts du Quebec Website:

http://www.mnba.qc.ca/Afficher.aspx?page=1113&langue=en

- The Musee de l’Amerique Francaise Website: http://www.mcq.org/en/maf/

- The Musee de la civilization Website: http://www.mcq.org/index_en.html

- Musée de la place Royale Website: http://www.mcq.org/en/cipr/index.html

Readings:

- Alun Munslow Narrative and History Narrating the past

- Alun Munslow History as expression

- Homi K. Bhabha Nation and narration

- Paul Ricoeur, The Historian’s Representation – Representation and Narration

http://www.trekbd.com/2011/11/notre-dame-basilica-cathedral-at-quebec.html The

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When the arts

talk about the

nation, the

nationalism and

the national

identity

When the glory of the

history narrates its story

in a coherent

methodological

succession; this

analytical piece can

reflect what’s behind the

scene.

Three tours

narrate what’s

behind the scene By: Ghada G. A. Mohamed

- Saint-Paul Street

- The tour to/in the Morrin College

- At and in the National Assembly of Quebec City and the National

Capital Commission.

Keywords: Music, Color, Symbols, Monuments, Colony, Libraries,

Medieval age prisons, Languages, The lily, the rose, the lion, the cross, and

the flag, National belonging, Nationalism, Nation, Identity, Autonomous,

Sovereignty, Post-colonial era, Modernity.

Sources:

On-line sources:

- Marrion college Website: http://www.morrin.org/pages/site.php

- The National Assembly Website: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/abc-

assemblee/assemblee-nationale/index.html

Readings:

- Alun Munslow Narrative and History Narrating the past

- Alun Munslow History as expression

- Homi K. Bhabha Nation and narration

- Timothy Brennan, The National Longing for form

- Homi K. Bhabha, DissemiNation

- Paul Ricoeur, Memory, History, Forgetting. Translated by

Kathleen Blamey and David Pellauer

- Paul Ricoeur, The Historian’s Representation – Representation

and Narration

- Paul Ricoeur, Representation and Rhetoric

- Kieran Keohane, Symptoms of Canada. An Essay on Canadian

Identity. University of Toronto Press, 1997, 198 pages.

o Chapter 2: National Identity and the Theft of National

enjoyment.

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o Chapter 10: Socializing with Cyborgs: In the Restaurant at the End of the Trans-

Canada Highway.

- Linda Cardinal, Language Planning and Policy Making in Quebec and in Canada, p. 184 –

201

- Daniel Weinstock, the Politics of Language: Philosophical reflections on the case of Quebec,

p. 202 - 211

Reflection 2:

Three Tours Narrate what’s Behind the Scene:

Source of pictures: http://senami-art.blogspot.ca/,

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/Canada/Province_of_Quebec/Quebec-905108/Off_the_Beaten_Path-

Quebec-MISC-BR-1.html, http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/669.php

When I moved from an alley to an alley, from a street to a street passing by memorial

walls, monuments, historical architectures, museums, pubs, and shops in Quebec City

I remembered Homi K. Bhabha’s question in his DissemiNation: Time, Narrative and

the Margins of the Modern Nation: “Why do nations celebrate their hoariness not

their astonishing youth?” I remembered his arguments about nationalism, nation,

identity, languages, history, and modernity to answer this question. I stopped at the

language as a main element that determines all concepts related to the nation, the

identity, the sovereignty, the culture, and the power. The language was the key factor

of understanding the past, the present and the future of Quebec City by reading its

walls, painting and by passing by their alleys. Three different tours made me decode

the language of Quebec City; the language of its colors, the language of its symbols,

the language of its public institutions, and the language of its people. Like Linda

Cardinal in her Language planning and policy making in Quebec and in Canada; I

argue that the language does not only decode paradigms and symbols but it also

confirms on the identity and differentiates it from others’ identities. Despite the fact I

found in Quebec City that the French Language is the dominant language in Quebec

City and it is the language that determines its national identity but my tours to

different places made me waiting before jumping to conclusions. My tour in Saint-

http://www.trekbd.com/2011/11/notre-dame-basilica-cathedral-at-quebec.html The

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Paul Street, at/ inside the Marrion College and to/ in the national assembly of Quebec

City could show me different aspects of the city. The language of colors and the

language of signs were an admixture of different types of languages. Inside St. Paul’s

street the historical admixture with the modernity with the Inuit’s contemporary arts

gave an example of complex over-lapping identities to the city, the way the Morrion

College was built on the ruins of the Medieval age’s oppression gave an example of a

new philosophical admixture of complex overlapping historical fingerprints that no

one can deuce to whom they belong. In our way to the national assembly; the

complex interface between the past and the modernity manifested in buildings, street

planning, gates, rocks, walls, tress, and statues sent an ambiguous message of

unreadable language. Inside the national assembly; the tour started from a big

entrance that was drawn with all colors, with all symbols, and with all types of

materials. In our way to the assembly’s chambers; each room was painted in a

different color; the color of the British colony, the color of the French colony, the

color of the confederation. The lily was mixed with the rose. The cross was mixed

with the crown. The religion was mixed with the secularism symbols, and the English

was mixed with the French.

After those tours; I realized that there are identity conflicts in Quebec City; a conflict

between the past and the present and another conflict between the national identity

and the cultural identity. Despite the complex of the philosophical admixture, the

cultural/national dough was not soft enough to shape a unified convenient

identification.

“Why do nations celebrate their hoariness not their astonishing youth?” I went back

to Bhabha’s question again. After my tours the answer was clearer; Quebec City

needs to remember always the past because the present is so confusing to its

announced national identity. In order for Quebec City to maintain its national identity

it needs to preserve its historical heritages and to try to link the present to the past not

vice versa so it can always justify its French language and French culture despite facts

of demographic change and despite all secularism & modernization movements that

confront its religious legacy.

Quebec City is not only a mysterious city but it is the city that resists the time

horizon.

Sources:

On-line sources:

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- Marrion college Website: http://www.morrin.org/pages/site.php

- The National Assembly Website: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/abc-assemblee/assemblee-

nationale/index.html

Readings:

- Alun Munslow Narrative and History Narrating the past

- Alun Munslow History as expression

- Homi K. Bhabha Nation and narration

- Homi K. Bhabha, DissemiNation

- Paul Ricoeur, The Historian’s Representation – Representation and Narration

http://www.trekbd.com/2011/11/notre-dame-basilica-cathedral-at-quebec.html The

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10 Logs in 10 different

days in Quebec City

Log 1: My field trip to Quebec City

Log 2: The glory of the past & the identity of the present

Log 3: The herald of the past & the cross in the heart

Log 4: Facing Champlain

Log 5: Identity Conflicts

Log 6: The Fate of America

Log 7: The language of the history

Log 8: The lion and the lily – Je Me Souviens

Log 9: A lot of walking

Log 10: Living in a world heritage city

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Log 1: First Day: Monday 27th

, 2013

The First Day of the 10 Days – My Field Trip to Quebec City

Picture source: http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g155033-d264311-Reviews-Auberge_de_la_Paix-

Quebec_City_Quebec.html

On the first day of the field trip to Quebec City; the meeting was at Ottawa train

station and from a train to another train we arrived to the beautiful city of Quebec. I

felt I arrived to a new country not to a new city. I felt I am in an old beautiful

advanced well planned European country. Each single place in the city speaks a story.

The pubs, the shopping stores, the restaurants, the walls, the streets, and the entire

design tell many stories. The air smells a story. Everything was beautiful, the city and

its people.

We went in a group to the hostel; L'Auberge de la Paix; the hostel and the way to the

hostel made me feeling that I am in Paris; again in Paris and again walking in its

beautiful alleys. The sound of France and the smell of France was everywhere. We

went to our rooms and I recognized that I will have to go through an adventure; a new

life experience. Four of us would sleep in the same room on four- small beds. Each

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one of us was in a different age. I was the oldest and the quietest. I liked the idea and

I liked the whole adventure.

On 7:00 pm it was our plan to go together to have our welcome dinner at Rue Saint-

Paul; everyone was laughing. We were very happy. We were embracing the life and

our happiness. In the restaurant; I have taken my first decision in the trip; the decision

to live the culture of Quebec City not just to address it. I loved the city and its culture

from the first moment. I closed my eyes to imagine the past and to predict for the

future. From Alun Munslow; I started to narrate the past to tell the story of the

beautiful Quebec City. The true story has started in the second day of the field trip.

That was my first day in Quebec City; Ghada Mohamed; Quebec City, June 1st, 2013

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Log 2: Second Day: Tuesday 28th

, 2013

The Second Day of the 10 Days - The glory of the past & the identity of the present

Source of picture: http://www.toursvoirquebec.com/fr/tours-du-vieux-quebec/observatoire

1. L’Observatoire de la capital

2. Quebec Secretariat

3. Minister of International Relations

Reading: Alun Munslow Narrative and History

“Viewing history as literary artifact is not a debilitating nor less a terminal complaint. Rather,

recognising the importance of narrative explanation in our lives as well as in the study of the past could

liberate historians as we acknowledge and try to narrate the disruptive discontinuity and chaos of the

past for and in the present.” Alun Munslow

In the second day of our field trip to Quebec City; the trip has been started from

L’Observatoire de la Capitale; from there the guide has started to narrate the history

as a literary artifact as she was reading the past from on the crust of the river. Despite

Munslow’s argument that the history is not the past but the narration was all about the

past that she considered the history of founding the city. The guide’s narration has

started in a successive series of events begun from Lake Champlain and epics of

founding Quebec City. From the guide’s narration I felt that I was watching the entire

historical epic. I was following with my imagination the guide’s narration. We were

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moving from a spot to a spot following the succession of the events. Every place

starting from the Lake was drawing the past; the past that started by the French

explorer; Samuel de Champlain as nothing happened in the city before that time and

before that date. The guide started speaking about the battles of the French and then

the battles between the British and the French referring to images we watch from the

window of the observatory as they were drawing everywhere in the city. From the

guide’s narration; I have known that I am walking in the past; the past of Quebec City

and the message was clear that I was there to learn about the past that determines the

identity of the city. The consistency between the story telling and the design of the

city was unbelievable as the city has been drawn by the feather of the history.

In my way to the Quebec Secretariat and the Minister of International relations

buildings I was thinking only about the amazing literary artifact of the city that has

been emphasized by Josee Bergeron and Geneviecve Desy who confirmed on the

identity of the New France or the identity of Quebec City that Quebec City has an

independent and a separate identity that emerges from the past not from the present of

Canada. This was the lesson I got in the second day; Quebec City’s identity emerges

from the past.

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Log 3: Third Day: Wednesday 29th

, 2013

The Third Day of the 10 Days – The herald of the past & the cross in the heart

Source: http://www.trekbd.com/2011/11/notre-dame-basilica-cathedral-at-quebec.html

- The Cathedral

- The Musee de l’Amerique Francaise

- Cartier Street

- Musee de Beaux Arts du Quebec

-

Reading: Edited by Homi K. Bhabha Nation and narration

Homi K. Bhabha, Dissemination

Timothy Brennan, The national Longing for form

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In the third day of the field trip; the message of the identity of Quebec City has been

extended from the glory of the past to the herald of the past. We started the third day

tour from the main cathedral where I found the clear message of the identity of the

Quebec nation; the cross and the herald of merry are located inside the heart of

Quebec City. It was very obvious that the British colony could not change the faith

and the belief of Quebecers along the history. The catholic cathedral stands highness

along the time. It is not that as Homi K. Bhabha in his book “Nation and narration”

said the nation loses its origin in the myth of time. Quebec City has sent a clear

message that it is a nation that does not lose its identity that emerges from both the

glory and the herald of its past; the past it considers since foundation and never before

or after that date; 1608. This message has been confirmed when we moved from there

to both the Musee de l’Amerique Francaise and the Musee de Beaux Arts du Quebec.

Paintings, collections, objects, and everything in both museums were sending the

same message; the message of the past that started from its foundation by Champlain,

the message of its language, the message of its culture and the message of its religion

and faith. Despite battles along that history; its French culture has never been changed

or got affected. The message was that clear starting from the Cathedral and ending to

both museums.

The Cartier street; its flags, buildings, walls, shops, graffiti, and all architectures

sends the same message; the message of the language of the national belonging. The

message has been explained by Homi Bhabha and Timothy Brennan; the message of

the identity and the message of the national belonging. Quebec City to me is the

nation that understands its own language and knows to whom it belongs at least

according to my third day’s understanding.

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Log 4: Forth Day: Thursday 30th

, 2013

The Fourth Day of the 10 Days – Facing Champlain

Sources of pictures: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340570/ , http://www.mcq.org/place-royale/en/lieux.php

- The ferry

- Tour of Place Royale

- Centre of Place Royale

- Film Champlain

Reading: Paul Rocoeur, Memory, History, Forgetting.

The philosophy of the history and the how the history is written, remembered or

forgotten was not only written by Recoeur or narrated by Munslow. It has been

written on St. Lawrence River when we have taken all together the ferry tour to go

through the history and to understand its philosophy. Another tour of Palace Royale

followed the ferry tour; the Place Royale where the birth place of French America

and the hub of trade to many people along the history; the history that show the birth

of a new era of a prosper economy and a new face of the city. The cross was still

centered in the heart of the street. In Place Royale we have seen centers of the Inuit’s

contemporary arts that were located in an inconsistency with the rest of the

monuments in the street as they were trying hard to find a place for themselves in the

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city. The Inuit’s contemporary arts could not express themselves clearly while

Facing Champlain: A work in 3 dimensions was working to send a different message;

the same message that we were reading everywhere in the city; the history, the past,

the art, the culture, the language, and the faith can only be memorized since the

foundation of Quebec City as nothing happened before that date. In the end of the

tour we dressed up the Medieval French costumes and we lived the French traditional

culture in the medieval time for an hour. It was a lot of fun and we had many pictures

together. The cross and the priest’s costume were also the main costume in the

medieval age exhibition. The admixture of the theology, the philosophy and the

history discussed by Paul Ricoeur could represent clearly the fourth day of our field

trip to Quebec City. No more questions were left in my mind to ask. All answers were

clear and the message was expressed even more clearly by Champlain in his film.

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Log 5: Fifth Day: Friday May, 31st, 2013

The Forth Day of the 10 Days – Identity Conflicts

Source of picture: http://www.mcq.org/mobile/fr/expositions/expo-w250/galerie/image-2

- Musee de la civilization

- Le Temps de Quebecois

- We, the First Nations

Reading: Kieran Keohane, Symptoms of Canada. An Essay on Canadian Identity, Toronto,

University of Toronto Press, 1997.

The national identity and the theft of national enjoyment was the main title of the fifth

day tour. The enjoyment of Canadians as described in Keohane’s essays is different

than the enjoyment of others; it’s the enjoyment that determines a new identity; an

identity that differentiates itself from the identity of others. In the fifth day’s tour and

readings; there’s an obvious skip from the past to the modernity but the modernity

that crippled the past behind bars - so it cannot be changed or forgotten - to the

present with a new definition of the national identity that is scattered among the

multiculturalism and the admixture of indigenous’ arts, the new France, the new

England, and the American arts. In the fifth day we started to see such conflicts

among all those cultures. For the first time we could see ideological and historical

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conflicts that appeared clearly in paintings, collections, and objects that could create

a new identity; the identity that includes in the folds common characters of all of

those overlapping identities.

The national enjoyment is the enjoyment that Quebecers and the New Canadians

define from their style of life that differs from others. The question was always about

who those others are. The others could not be explained clearly whether in the

museum or in the readings. The confusion in determining who those others are can

explain the confusion of the definition of the national identity adopted by Keohane’s

essays who was himself confused between immigrants as new Canadians or as the

negative side effect of the globalization.

The Musee de la Civilization was explaining the overlapping identical conflicts but

from an acute angle; the angle that does not contain all Quebecers nowadays and

hence the definition of the national identity represented by the adopted methodology

of the museum wasn’t comprehensive enough to encompass the real national identity

of the nation or what we can call the real cultural identity of the nation. Yet, I could

understand that it’s all about a selected portion of the history.

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Log 6: Seventh Day: Sunday June 2nd

, 2013

The Seventh Day of the 10 Days – The Fate of America

Source of picture: http://picsbox.biz/key/plains%20of%20abraham%20map

The movie by Jacques Godbout, 1997, 81 min 27 s

- The Battle of the plains of Abraham

- Montcalm and Wolfe both of whom died in the battle that would give birth to Canada and to

the province of Quebec.

Source: http://www.nfb.ca/film/Fate_of_America_The

This time was a different type of narration; the story telling and back again to Alun

Manslow, was different in the Fate of America documentary. The narrator started

with the hypothesis of the difference between the fiction and the true history to test

throughout his story; the story of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The story that

included in the folds the main personals those were behind the birth of Quebec and of

Canada. Montcalm and Wolfe; two personals represent the conflict between the

French and the British to conquer the new land; the land that brought the Canadians;

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the old French and the indigenous, where both of whom died with their famous last

words “I Die Content”.

Once again; each word in the documentary sends the same message; the message that

relates the culture, the language, the power and all determinants of the national

identity to the past of the colony as nothing happened before that past to draw the

history of Quebec City. The documentary could not test its hypothesis and could not

tell the difference between the fiction and the true history in a deterministic way. To

Alun Munslow; the history can be narrated according to the view of the narrator. To

me; I could get the message even more clearly; the national identity of Quebec starts

from this point of the history and it is centered in the heart of the French culture.

Despite the British conquer of the land but the French culture could not be defeated in

Quebec City along this history. The test of the hypothesis does not matter anymore. It

is just a fact and a fait accompli.

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Log 7: Eighth Day: Monday June 3rd

, 2013

The Eighth Day of the 10 Days – The language of the history

Source of pictures: http://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/GetMember.do?lang=en&id=guaeew&ens=cnRsTGFuZz1lbg==,

http://www.bonjourquebec.com/qc-fr/repertoire-attraits/musee-centre-dinterpretation-site-historique/residence-du-gouverneur-general-a-la-citadelle_97773405.html

- Prof. Donald Fyson Anglos in Quebec City

- Morrin College

- Interface: Federal presence in Quebec City (Battlefield commission and Parcs Canada). Maison de la

decouverte.

Readings:

o Linda Cardinal, Language Planning and policy making in Quebec and in Canada.

o Daniel Weinstock, the politics of language: Philosophical reflections on the case of

Quebec

Where were indigenous in your story? Their existence was insignificant in the history

of the Anglos in Quebec City. That was my question and this was Prof. Fyson’s

answer. But his story sounded also that the Anglo’s history was also insignificant in

Quebec City because it is all about the language of the City; the language that

determines the national identity and the public policy that has been drawn by

Francophone’s feathers. Cardinal and Weinstock confirmed on this fact and each

place in Quebec City including public employees were speaking the French language

and were trying hard to translate events to the English language.

Back again to the history; the history in the eighth day of the field trip was narrated in

the underground not on the crust of the river. Under the beautiful image of education

and under books of philosophy, history, and science in Morrin College another story

of racism and oppression was written. The story this time has been written by the

feathers of the medieval age’s victims and slaves. Under the ground we have seen

prisons and scary detention cells. We have also listened to stories of racism, slavery,

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and British soldiers’ miserable lives not just in the Morrin College but also in the

Maison de la decouverte.

The story this time was different. The glory of the past and the herald of the past have

been changed to the horror of the past. The past was scary. Despite the guide’s

justifications of the meaning of justice in this era but he could not change the dark

image of that past that violated all human rights by all means. In the end of the eighth

day of my field trip to Quebec City I was happy that I was not born in that era.

Quebec City in that day gave a lesson that the humanity has accomplished a lot in its

journey from the backwardness to the modernity.

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Log 8: Ninth Day: Tuesday June 4th

, 2013

The ninth Day of the 10 Days – The Lion and the lily- Je Me Souvines

Source of pictures: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/index.html, http://www.sd71.bc.ca/sd71/edulinks/canada/qbindex.htm

- The Lion and the lily

- Assemblee nationale (Commentary of the Façade – In French)

- Guided tour of the National Assembly

Reading:

- Edited by Lucie K. Morrisset, Luc Noppen and Denis Saint-Jacques Ville imaginaire. Viklle

identitaire. Echos de Quebec.

Imaginary city, City identity, Echoes of Quebec; again to readings and again to

different type of interpretation of the national identification and the fiction of history.

This time the language of readings was in French but the tour inside the national

assembly of Quebec was for the first time so bilingual. The language of the national

assembly, its colours, its paintings, and its design were all combinations of the

French, the British, and the pure Canadian narratives. The philosophy of the

admixture this time was so ironic; the cross with the crown with symbols of

secularism movements with bilingual speeches with bilingual bills and charters; the

rose with the lily with the green colour of the Canadian confederation and the

birthday of Canada. The message of the national assembly of Quebec City was so

compromising to punctuate the Diaspora. The message was logical and consistent

with the conflict between the past and the present.

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Despite the fact that Morrisset, Noppen, and Saint-Jacques were speaking about the

identity of Quebec as a province that the inclusion of Montreal in the story was the

main channel between the past and the history’s identification but Quebec City was

and still the legacy of the past despite historical negotiations and national

compromising messages that were sent by politicians and authors.

The most important question came to my mind that day was about the secularism

movement in the sixtieth; the location of the cross under the crown inside the national

assembly could not justify the story of secularism movements despite the guide’s

justification that it is there as a historical symbol. Its location inside the national

assembly sent a different message which was that the national identity of Quebec City

could not exclude the religion from on its forehead and from in its heart.

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Log 9: Tenth Day: Wednesday June 5th

, 2013

The Tenth Day of the 10 Days – A lot of walking

Source of pictures: http://cdnseed.org/cstas-90th-annual-meeting/, http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=741efb02-7cbb-42b5-b845-dc5a84c21540

- Guided tour of the Parc de l’Artillerie

- Guided tour of the Fortifications of Quebec

- Ruines du Chateau Saint-Louis

The Chateau Saint-Louis, the fortifications of Quebec and the Parc de l’Artillerie

narrated again a portion of the history; the history of the British colony, the battles

again between the British and the French and the history of the first governors of

Quebec City, their style of life, their slaves, and all their ruins. Under the ground was

another story of oppression; Upstairs, Downstairs and the traumatic social classes’

segregation; the sir and the slave. The medieval age’s style of life of first governors of

Quebec City was a clear drama of social oppression but in the same time we could

have seen different ways of economic planning and armour power manifested in the

remnants of that past. Despite my sensitivity to human rights issues I tried to be

objective in my evaluation to the story telling and the historical narrative in this day.

The way they were eating, the way they were preserving their food, the way they

were cooking, and the way they were treating each other and living with each other,

the position of the woman in her family, the position of the man in his family, the

position of children, employees, soldiers and slaves completed the story of that era in

my mind. Each one had a role, each one had a position, and each one had its divided

portion of life determined by a rigorous systematic social regime.

The narrative could have told also the political, economic, social, and militant

connections to the rest of the British Empire. I have gained many lessons from that

day.

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Log 10: Eleventh Day: Thursday June 6th

, 2013

The Eleventh Day of the 10 Days – Living in a World Heritage City

Source of picture: http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g1498925-d2021369-Reviews-Musee_Huron_Wendat-

Wendake_Quebec.html

- The Huron-Wendat community

- The farewell dinner

Reading: Graeme Evans, Living in a World Heritage City.

The consistency between the class readings and our tour inside the Huron-Wendat

Community was great in the last day of our field trip to Quebec City. Living in a

World Heritage City was the main title of that day. Graeme Evans; the professor of

Urban Culture and Design was clear in his message; from his point of view I could

see the impact of the culture heritage on the architecture and the interior design of the

city and on the atonic design of the Huron-Wendat community that reflected in my

opinion the dim light of the indigenous history in Quebec City. The tour inside the

museum of the Huron-Wendat community could not show anything but blurred

primitive monuments and historic scattered collections.

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After a long day of readings, discussions and tours we had to dress up again for the

farewell dinner. I put on a nice dress; I walked to the restaurant with my camera.

Inside the restaurant I remembered that this was the last day of the field trip. I did not

want to miss any moment. I spoke a lot, I laughed a lot, and I took many pictures. I

had steak and French Fries. French again! In Quebec City everything was French

even the dinner was French Fries.

In the last day of my field trip in Quebec City I fell in love with the city. I left the gala

dinner a bit earlier to walk alone and to try to see the walls with a different eye. It was

my last day of the field trip but I promised the walls to go back to reread it more

carefully and more accurately. Ten days were not enough to understand the

mysterious city.

Document modifications: * Le musée, * Le petit séminaire de Québec, * Ricoeur, * Geveviève Désy,

* Morrin Center

---------Ghada Mohamed --- 100255620 --- Ottawa in June 20th

, 2013