Movement Renewal and Attachments to the Past: The Commemorative Reception of the Feminist Novel L’Euguélionne in Québec

Abstract:How might we conceptualize speech acts that commemorate a novel, not in a physical site nor championed by the state or social movement organizations, but rather in various media outlets by audiences of a movement’s artistic productions? Using the case of the commemoration of the Québec feminist novel L’Euguélionne in newspapers, I introduce the concept of commemorative reception and find three claims shaped by different attachments to the novel and the era during which it was published: extending claims shaped by dissatisfaction and discouragement; specific claims shaped by disappointment and frustration; and enacting claims shaped by fear and mourning. These show that avenues for movement renewal were publicly constructed based on feminists’ individual affective attachments to the movements’ cultural production, which make commemorative reception a useful concept for scholars interested in intergenerational dynamics and the study of abeyance.