Wikipedia

Serge Bouchard

Serge Bouchard (July 27, 1947 – May 11, 2021) was a Canadian anthropologist, writer, and media personality. Bouchard studied contemporary life in Canada from an anthropological perspective; his subjects ranged from Innu hunters to Quebec truck drivers. Through his frequent appearances in the media, Bouchard's commentary reached both a popular and scholarly audience. He received the Prix Gérard-Morrisset in 2015 and a Governor-General's Award in 2017.

Serge Bouchard
Born(1947-07-27)July 27, 1947
Montreal, Quebec
DiedMay 11, 2021(2021-05-11) (aged 73)
Montreal, Quebec
Occupationanthropologist, writer, broadcaster
LanguageFrench
NationalityCanadian
Alma materMcGill University, Université Laval
Period1970s–2021
Notable worksLes Yeux tristes de mon camion
SpouseMarie-Christine Lévesque

Early life and education edit

Bouchard was born on July 27, 1947, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[1][2] He attended the Collège Mont-Saint-Louis [fr] in Montreal alongside sports commentator Claude Mailhot [fr] and politician Gilles Duceppe, both of whom remained life-long friends of Bouchard's.[3]

Bouchard obtained a Master's degree from Université Laval in 1973, with a dissertation focused on hunters of the Innu people in Labrador.[3] He then went on to study for a doctorate at McGill University, which he completed in 1980, his research and thesis focusing on the lives and culture of long-distance truck drivers in north-west Quebec.[3][4] His interest in this subject arose as a result of his father and grandfather having been truck drivers, and Bouchard spent time travelling around the province with drivers, as part of his research.[3] His doctoral thesis was supervised by Bernard Arcand, with whom he became a collaborator and close friend.[5][6]

Career edit

Bouchard's first publication was Chronique de chasse d'un Montagnais de Mingan (Hunting Stories by a Montagnais Indian from Mingan), a translation of a memoir by 91-year-old former hunter and trapper Mathieu Mestokosho, which he published in 1977. The Innu (formerly Montagnais) man had written the work as part of Quebec Heritage Week under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.[7]

After completing his studies at McGill, Bouchard worked in a number of roles including intercultural communication and the study of ethnohistory and workers' culture. He then went on to head the human sciences research programme at the Institut de recherche en santé et en sécurité du travail, a role he held between 1987 and 1990.[8][9] From 1990 to 1996 he worked for the French Army, with a job title of consultant en management et organisation du travail (consultant in management and organisation of work).[8][10]

In 1991, Bouchard published Le moineau domestique, a collection of around 60 essays on the struggles and joys of modern life. John Ellis Hare of the Ottawa Citizen said that "there are many smiles and chuckles in Bouchard's dry humour" and called the pieces "gems of wisdom and experience".[11]

Bouchard first appeared on a Radio-Canada television program in 1981.[12] In the 2000s, he was featured on Radio-Canada's show Indicatif présent alongside Jean-Daniel Lafond where they would discuss social issues and current affairs.[13] He also hosted Radio-Canada shows Les Lieux Communs (The Common Places) with Bernard Arcand,[5] and Les chemins de travers by himself.[14] Bouchard has been consulted on or featured in several films, including Québékoisie and Hochelaga, Land of Souls.[15][16]

In 2021, Bouchard released a collection of around 70 essays titled Un café avec Marie. The work was named after his wife, Marie-Christine Lévesque, who had died from brain cancer on July 16, 2020.[17]

He had an enduring interest in the Indigenous peoples of Canada, the Canadian North, and the French-speaking peoples of North America.[18] Throughout his career, he travelled to spend time in Quebec's Côte-Nord, Nunavik and Baie-James areas, as well as Labrador and the Yukon territory, studying the peoples of those regions.[8]

Bouchard received the Prix Gérard-Morisset in 2015.[19] He won the Governor General's Award for French-language non-fiction twice, at the 2017 Governor General's Awards for Les Yeux tristes de mon camion[20] and at the 2021 Governor General's Awards for Du diesel dans les veines.[21]

Death edit

In April 2021, while still working as a host of the show C'est fou... with Jean-Philippe Pleau on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Ici Radio-Canada Première network, Bouchard announced on Facebook that he was taking some time off due to "little health issues". He posted again, on May 9, saying "I slowly regain my mammoth strength, and I'm anxious to be back in front of a microphone and the listeners".[22]

He died on May 10, 2021, at the age of 73.[22][2]

Works edit

  • Chroniques de chasse d'un Montagnais de Mingan (1977)[23]
  • Le moineau domestique: histoire de vivre (1991)[24]
  • Quinze lieux communs (1993, with Bernard Arcand)[24]
  • De nouveaux lieux communs (1994, with Bernard Arcand)[24]
  • Du pâté chinois, du baseball et autres lieux communs (1995, with Bernard Arcand)[24]
  • De la fin du mâle, de l'emballage et autres lieux communs (1996, with Bernard Arcand)[24]
  • Des pompiers, de l'accent français et autres lieux communs (1998, with Bernard Arcand)[24]
  • France-Québec: images et mirages (1999)[25]
  • L'homme descend de l'ourse (1998)[26]
  • Du pipi, du gaspillage et sept autres lieux communs (2001, with Bernard Arcand)[27]
  • Cow-boy dans l'âme: sur la piste du Western et du country (2002, with Bernard Arcand)[28]
  • Les Meilleurs Lieux communs, peut-être (2003, with Bernard Arcand)[24]
  • Les corneilles ne sont pas les épouses des corbeaux (2005)[24]
  • Caribou Hunter: A Song of a Vanished Innu Life (2006, with Mathieu Mestokosho)[29]
  • Bestiaire: confessions animales (2006)[30]
  • Bestiaire II: confessions animales (2008)[26]
  • Elles ont fait l'Amérique: De remarquables oubliés, Tome 1 (2011, with Marie-Christine Lévesque)[31]
  • C'était au temps des mammouths laineux (2012)[32]
  • Ils ont couru l'Amérique: De remarquables oubliés, Tome 2 (2014, with Marie-Christine Lévesque)[33]
  • Les Yeux tristes de mon camion (2016)[34]
  • Le peuple rieur: hommage à mes amis Innus (2017, with Marie-Christine Lévesque)[35]
  • L'Œuvre du grand lièvre filou (2018)[36]
  • L'Allume-cigarette de la Chrysler noire (2019)[37]
  • Un café avec Marie (2021)[17]
  • Du diesel dans les veines: La saga des camionneurs du Nord (2021, with Mark Fortier)[38]

References edit

  1. ^ Lapointe, Josée (May 11, 2021). "Serge Bouchard 1947-2021: Un phare s'éteint". La Presse (in French). Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Lapointe, Josée; Maalouf, Laila (May 12, 2021). "'Wave of love' emerges as Quebec writer and radio personality Serge Bouchard mourned". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "L'anthropologue Serge Bouchard s'est éteint à 73 ans". Radio Canada (in French). May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  4. ^ Bouchard, Serge (1980). Nous autres, les gars de truck: essai sur la culture et l'idologie des camionneurs de longue-distance dans le nord-ouest qubcois (Thesis). McGill University. OCLC 1032991163. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Wysocka, Natalia (June 15, 2019). "Bernard Arcand: la texture du monde". Le Devoir (in French). Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  6. ^ Provencher, Normand (June 15, 2019). "Serge Bouchard: à la mémoire de Bernard Arcand". Le Soleil (in French). Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  7. ^ "Montagnais recalls past". The Leader-Post. August 13, 1977. p. 60. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "Biographie de Serge Bouchard". w:fr:Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  9. ^ "Décès de Monsieur Serge Bouchard" (in French). Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail. May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021. Organisation du travail
  10. ^ Pleau, Jean-Philippe (2020). "Le beau Bouchard". Lettres québécoises (in French). Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  11. ^ Hare, John (August 24, 1991). "Unknown's essays are joyful surprise". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 98. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  12. ^ "70 ans et de nombreuses réflexions pour l'anthropologue Serge Bouchard" (in Canadian French). Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  13. ^ Aubry, Jack (August 24, 2005). "Jean's husband to resume radio talk-show job". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 7. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  14. ^ Legault, Josée (May 12, 2021). "Serge Bouchard: un redoutable communicateur". Le Journal de Montréal. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  15. ^ Kelly, Brendan (January 24, 2014). "Different Cultures, Shared History". The Gazette. p. 36. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  16. ^ Dunlevy, T'Cha (January 19, 2018). "Girard Digs Up our City's Roots in Ambitious 'Poem'". The Gazette. p. P26. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Lapierre, Michel (March 13, 2021). ""Un café avec Marie": la tragédie de l'oubli collectif". Le Devoir (in French). Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  18. ^ "Le Québec perd son "Mammouth laineux", l'illustre anthropologue Serge Bouchard". Le Droit (in French). The Canadian Press. May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  19. ^ "Serge Bouchard, un anthropologue pas comme les autre". Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  20. ^ "Governor General Literary Awards announced: Joel Thomas Hynes wins top English fiction prize". CBC News. November 1, 2017. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  21. ^ Laila Maalouf, "Fanny Britt remporte le Prix du Gouverneur général". La Presse, November 17, 2021.
  22. ^ a b "Quebec anthropologist, author and broadcaster Serge Bouchard dies at 73". Montreal Gazette. May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  23. ^ Brassard, Denis (1980). "Three Montagnais Myths: A Structuralist Approach". Anthropologica. 22 (2): 202. doi:10.2307/25605047. ISSN 0003-5459. JSTOR 25605047. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h "Livres – Catalogue – Éditions du Boréal" (in French). Éditions du Boréal. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  25. ^ "France-Québec, images et mirages". Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (in French). Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  26. ^ a b Montpetit, Caroline (December 13, 2008). "Bestiaire: la vie avant les hommes". Le Devoir (in French). Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  27. ^ Monette, Pierre (March 21, 2001). "Serge Bouchard et Bernard Arcand: Du pipi, du gaspillage et sept autres lieux communs". Voir (in Canadian French). Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  28. ^ Gagnon, Éric (2003). "Review of Cow-boy dans l'âme". Anthropologie et sociétés (in French). 27 (2): 227. doi:10.7202/007466ar. ISSN 0702-8997.
  29. ^ "Caribou hunter: a song of a vanished Innu life / transcribed by Serge Bouchard; translated by Joan Irving; foreword by J. Edward Chamberlin". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  30. ^ Huot, Pascal (2015). "Confessions animales. Bestiaire". Cap-aux-Diamants: La revue d'histoire du Québec (in French) (122): 40. ISSN 0829-7983. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  31. ^ Dubrûle, Daniel (April 21, 2011). "Elles ont fait l'Amérique: la traversée du continent". La Presse (in French). Archived from the original on May 29, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  32. ^ Bélanger, Gaétan (March 25, 2014). "C'était au temps des mammouths laineux". Nuit blanche (in French). ISSN 0823-2490. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  33. ^ Labrèche, Yves (2014). "Serge Bouchard et Marie-Christine Lévesque, De remarquables oubliés, t. 2: Ils ont couru l'Amérique, Montréal, Lux Éditeur, 2014, 420 p." Francophonies de l'Amérique (in French) (37): 213. doi:10.7202/1033984ar. ISSN 1183-2487.
  34. ^ Denis, Serge; Bolduc, Sonia (January 6, 2017). "Le livre de la semaine: Les yeux tristes de mon camion". Le Soleil (in French). Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  35. ^ Tardif, Dominic (November 25, 2017). "Serge Bouchard sur le long chemin de la résilience innue". Le Devoir (in French). Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  36. ^ Desmeules, Christian (November 10, 2018). ""L'oeuvre du Grand Lièvre Filou": le testament d'un anthropologue vagabond". Le Devoir (in French). Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  37. ^ Lapierre, Michel (October 26, 2019). ""L'allume-cigarette de la Chrysler noire": le rythme de l'Amérique autochtone". Le Devoir (in French). Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  38. ^ Tardif, Dominic (April 3, 2021). "Avec Serge Bouchard, sur la route infinie des camions". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved May 13, 2021.
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