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This article analyzes two comic incidents portrayed in Gadda’s That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana and its adaptation The Facts of Murder by Pietro Germi. We argue that the inclusion of what we term ‘stereotypical gags’ in the detective novel functions as a modernist device that brings about a distancing of the audience and acts to distort the boundaries of genre. We show how the stereotypical gag both foregrounds and backgrounds the authorial humorous agency and results in satire and parody, respectively. In the first case, the authorial agency explicitly endorses humorous clichés and mocks along with the audience’s societal conventions. In the second case, humour generates a less obvious incongruity with respect to the discourse of the genre, resulting in parody through which the authorial agency mocks the audience and its trust in the values of the traditional detective story.

Keywords: Carlo Emilio Gadda, Pietro Germi, Modernism, That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana, Quer Pasticciaccio Brutto de Via Merulana, The Facts of Murder, Un Maledetto Imbroglio, detective novels, gag, stereotypical gag, slapstick, humor, parody, satire

This article considers Annibal Caro’s religious sentiments during the years of his most intense comic and paradoxical production: the pre-Tridentine period from 1536 to 1543, a time of tense expectation in Rome for significant Church reform. Although Caro’s religious beliefs never raised suspicions of heterodoxy, we shall see that both his paradoxical prose in Berni’s style, and his only comedy (which he conceived at the request of the Duke Pier Luigi Farnese but was never authorised by Caro to be represented or published in his lifetime), show that Erasmian influences and suggestions from Boccaccio and Aretino allowed him to safely engage in a discourse of religious dissent.

Arthur Golding was a prolific Elizabethan translator, most famous for his rendering of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In 1577, he translated Théodore de Bèze’s 1550 tragedy, Abraham sacrifiant. While the Huguenot’s play has been widely studied, Golding’s translation has received almost no scholarly attention. This article aims to correct this oversight through a comparison of Golding’s version with the original. The analysis shows that Golding in large part employs a deferential approach to the translation of Bèze’s play, one that is in keeping with the religious nature of the text. However, this article also demonstrates that Golding switches translation styles in key moments of the Huguenot tragedy, in particular where Bèze emphasizes the scandalous nature of God’s command and Abraham’s dilemma. In these moments, Golding uses a variety of strategies to lessen the scandalous nature of the text, thereby “pre-digesting” the material for the reader. This editorial tactic will be viewed in relation both to the interpretive approach espoused by Golding in his preface to the Metamorphoses, and to John Calvin’s treatise on offense (scandal), which Golding was translating at the same time as Ovid’s poem.

La farse d’Amphitrion [The Farce of Amphitryon] was published in Anvers in 1504, in a collection of anonymous verse. It was the first French translation of a Plautine comedy. First, textual and paratextual analysis enables us to reconstruct an intellectual portrait of the author — a poet in the court of Burgundy — and to propose an identification. Analysis of the translation then reveals how the poet understood Plautine language, which was often difficult, and how he sought to translate his vis comica. Special attention is given to the way in which he renders Plautus’ verbal agility (word play, imagery, stichomythias, etc.) and his stage games, using the resources of the theatre — and notably of contemporary theatre. The Burgundian poet offered his readers a text which was not only faithful to its original, but also readable and effective.

Although the vulnerability of refugee women is a cornerstone of access to protection, it is rarely defined beyond its common-sense meaning - the risk of suffering harm. This article presents the results of an empirical research where 12 life histories were collected from Syrian refugee women responsible for supporting their families in Lebanon (7) and Québec (5). The analysis mobilized the concept of ambivalent vulnerability (Oliviero, 2016) and showed that women and their relatives were certainly exposed to forms of adversity, but also to transformative opportunities and to elements of continuity with their life trajectories.

Keywords: Femmes réfugiées, refugee women, responsabilité du soutien de la famille, family support, vulnérabilité, vulnerability, transnational feminism, féminisme transnational, Syrie, Syria, Lebanon, Liban, Québec, Québec

Elitism has been an issue in Canadian French immersion since its inception. This study examines how two racially diverse Ontarian school boards and Ontario French immersion policy, curricula, and other related documents construct and support an elite student within the immersion program. The elite student who emerged from immersion documents is a White, middle-class, English, established resident, mirroring the current demographics of the program. A middle-class bias emerged within the documents due to an assumed wealth, and lack of financial assistance, transportation and promotional materials. The program locations themselves favoured the middle-class. The curricula demonstrated a Eurocentric focus and colonial lens. In the documents of this study, it was assumed that parents had functional knowledge of English and French. Program entry-points favoured established residents over newcomers. Given its evident elitism, there has been a shift toward inclusion, particularly for students with special education needs and English language learners. However, this inclusion has yet to be critically enacted.

Keywords: French immersion, critical policy analysis, French as a second language, race, special education, English language learners, socioeconomic status

Since several years, the Saint-Roch neighbourhood, in the lower town of Quebec City, has been facing numerous food and nutrition insecurity issues that vary according to the often difficult life histories of its population. Indeed, for historical and sociological reasons, this neighborhood has more people with mental health, physical health and homelessness problems, and now also include immigrants who are not sufficiently adapted to their new living environment. This diversity brings significant challenges in understanding the specific causes of food and nutrition insecurity in this neighborhood, the physical and psychological consequences of this insecurity on its inhabitants, and the actions that need to be taken to sustainably reduce it. Various initiatives have been taken to improve food and nutrition security in the neighborhood. Among them is the creation of the Croque St-Roch solidarity market, to facilitate access to local market garden products. However, several observers note a lack of interest in these products by the population of the Saint-Roch district, and in particular the most vulnerable people. This study focuses on the causes of food and nutrition insecurity in this neighbourhood, including the reasons for the low inclusion of fresh and healthy produce in the diet of these people. Among these reasons, the study found a lack of knowledge about much of the food offered by the Croque St-Roch solidarity market. Information sheets and samplings were therefore proposed to educate the market’s clientele.

Keywords: Food and nutrition security, Sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, solidarity market, marché solidaire, inégalités socioéconomiques, socioeconomic inequalities, food knowledge, connaissances alimentaires, vulnerability, vulnérabilité