Βorn in Toronto to Scottish parents (Glasgow and vicinity) who immigrated to Canada in the late 60’s, I grew up in Brantford, ON − home of Wayne Gretzky and the city in which  Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.  (http://www.gretzky.com/) 

 

Several other notable personalities are also associated with this city situated an hour south of T.O. 

 

     Given my heritage and where I grew up, my interest in French literature is often rather bewildering. I like to explain my situation by referring to the « Auld Alliance » and the fact that the Scots and the French have always gotten along throughout history in their fight against the English (not that I have anything against them, of course!). Urquhart, the namesake of the famous castle  http://www.urquhart-castle.co.uk/ standing on the shore of Loch Ness, is derived from Airchart whose earliest recorded ancestor was William de Urchard (je souligne), who reputedly fought alongside William Wallace. Furthermore, I remind people that Sir Thomas Urquhart (1611-60) was a celebrated author and soldier who translated (badly… unfortunately) the works of the French satirist, François Rabelais (1494-1553).

 

     In terms of my interest in Quebec, I tell people that Jacques Cartier planted his cross in Gaspé, claiming the region for France in 1534 on my birthday – July 24th. A similar experience occurred on the same date some 400 years later in 1967 when Charles De Gaulle proclaimed his infamous “Vive le Québec libre” from the balcony of Montreal’s Hôtel de ville. If this tongue in cheek explanation is not enough, I site the fact that Michel Tremblay’s Les Belles Sœurs (1968) was translated into Glaswegian slang and became a hit in Scotland as The Guid Sisters at Glasgow’s Tron theatre as well as the comparisons made between Scotland’s situation within the U.K. and Quebec’s within Canada.

 

     These “fabulous” explanations only reinforce the fact that I was continually encouraged while growing up to learn French and the importance of Canada’s second official language.  My love for France, and indirectly Quebec, was ignited during high school ski trips to “la Belle province” and then during a two-week trip to France and Italy when I was 15 years old. This trip lead me to become an « au pair » or

« jeune homme à la mère » in Lyon several years later. In Lyon, I took French language courses at the Université Lumière Lyon 2 https://www.univ-lyon2.fr/ before heading to university back in Canada.

 

     Having fallen in love with Lyon and all things French (or almost…), I abandoned my studies in the sciences and enrolled in the French Teaching Specialization Program at the University of Waterloo https://uwaterloo.ca/ in conjunction with Brock University  https://brocku.ca/  where I did a B.Ed. During a third year abroad, I returned to France and studied in Nantes, home of Jules Verne. http://www.univ-nantes.fr. 

 

     I subsequently went to the United States to do an M.A. at Penn State University http://www.psu.edu where the study of French literature is very much alive and well. While in the U.S.A. my interest in Quebec was rekindled and I found myself more and more drawn towards this extraordinary region’s literature, which I had sampled in an undergraduate course. I decided it was time to come back to Canada and did my Ph.D. at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.  http://www.queensu.ca/

 

     This University’s Scottish heritage and geographic situation « à mi-chemin entre Toronto et Montréal » seemed to fit my personality and gave me the opportunity to study Quebec author, Gérard Bessette’s works in detail. Having been amused by Le Libraire (1960) as an undergraduate at U of Waterloo, I knew that Bessette had taught at Queen’s. During my studies in Kingston, I obviously discovered other novels by this author and had the opportunity to meet Bessette in person before his passing in 2005. I subsequently became goods friends with his wife, Irene, and then, inventoried his personal library. I am currently the executor of his literary works.

 

     I see myself as a “Franglophone” (a proficient non-native French speaking anglophone) and can’t imagine not speaking French or not knowing anything about France, Quebec, or any of the other French-speaking areas that I have visited over the years. As with many other foreign language speakers, the French language and the cultures are all part of me to differing degrees and continue to enrich my life in all kinds of respects. This is the case for many people, of course,  and it is always a great pleasure to speak with them about learning languages and embracing cultures we did not expect to encounter, let alone fall in love with. 

 

      When I can, I enjoy working on my Spanish, having spent fairly lengthy amounts of time over the years in Spain, which is un país que me encanta.  In terms of other languages, I also enjoy trying to remember all the German that I have forgotten after working for two months years ago in a bäckerei in Füssen, home of the Neuschwanstein Castle. In 2016, I had the privilege of spending several months  teaching at Hokkai Gakuen in Sapporo,  http://hgu.jp/en/ and then traveling around Japan. As such, I also have a soft spot for this country’s people, language, food, and culture. Just recently, I was able to complete the EBC (Everest Base Camp) trek with two passes (Cho-la & Renjo) in Nepal where I also got to visit important sites in Kathmandu. I hope to return to this wonderful place in the future and enjoyed the 24 hour Dhal Bat power. 

 

      On a more personal note,  I can get by on the bagpipes and am married with two children. My wife is also a franglophone and so we always seem to be talking about our next trip to a place we have never visited, be it near or far. 

 

steven.urquhart@uleth.ca

403-329-2564