Quebec North American Culture Essay

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Quebec’s history and geography clearly sets it apart as a distinct political and cultural North American region. It is uniquely the only large cultural hearth of French language, customs, and heritage on the continent. With this uniqueness comes solidarity among the people of Quebec and sometimes feelings of separation from the rest of Canada.
One thing that no one can doubt that brings together the nation of Canada is their national sport- hockey. Everyone knows that hockey is a well-loved competitive sport all over Canada but in Quebec their home team the Montreal Canadiens takes all the cheers. With Quebec’s sense of “isolation” their hockey team becomes one of pride and unity all over Quebec. By taking a closer look at the Province of …show more content…

With its 600,000 square miles of land area, it is the largest province in the country. “If this province were ever to secede from Canada, it would become the world’s 18th largest country in land area—more than twice the size of Texas and three times the size of France”(Hardwick, 2013, p. 109). Quebec takes up nearly one-sixth of Canadas’s total land area and is second in population (Ontario is first). In Figure 1, you can see the massive size of Quebec as compared to the rest of North America (WorldAtlas.com). Quebec has a predominantly French-speaking population with French being the official language of the province. Most people that live in Quebec live near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital of the province. …show more content…

It has the claim of being the only French-speaking province in Canada. This fact sets it apart from all other regions in North America. Each group of people who settled in Canada contributed some cultural aspects to the modern Quebec cultures and traditions. The factors that contributed include the aboriginals, French-speaking Acadians, English settlers, the maritime tradition, and even Quebec’s harsh winter climate (Grunert). But no other group had as much influence as the French.
The Quebecois identity incorporates cultural aspects like values, norms, and customs that are derived from its French heritage. “90% of the Quebec population is Francophone and research suggests that the Quebecois identity is strongly associated with the defense of the French language and of the Quebecois cultural heritage” (Arias-Valenzuela, 2016, p. 4). Because the Quebecois identity thrives on cultural features that native-borns are accustomed to, non-natives may not or might find it difficult to identify with this cultural

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