Conserveries Mémorielles (Mar 2013)
« Duplessis ne donne pas aux étrangers. » Le regard du caricaturiste Robert La Palme sur les politiques du gouvernement Duplessis en matière d’immigration, 1944-1959
Abstract
Between 1944 and 1959, in Le Canada and Le Devoir newspapers, caricaturist Robert La Palme tirelessly criticized Maurice Duplessis, Premier of the province of Québec. During these years, La Palme produced thousands of caricatures, a real theatre where the French-Canadian society came alive, in which the caricaturist drew under heavy fire the one then known as the « cheuf », his party, the National Union, and his governement, referred to as a « regime ». In doing so, La Palme devoted an important part of his works to the sensitive topic regarding immigration issues, foreigners, the « other », that all ponctuate his narrative, echoing the ongoing debates in postwar Québec. In this article, we propose to analyze the view of the caricaturist on these issues. By giving particular attention to debates concerning these matters under the Duplessis era, we will study the treatment given to these by the artist in his caricatures, that is how he brought these issues into the public space, specifically in electoral context where Unionists and Liberals alike faced each other, using an arsenal of stereotypes, clichés and visual codes. If the caricaturist frequently treated these issues for what they were, which were burning and sensitive issues, La Palme, as a good polemicist, did it first and foremost in order to attack the National Union and his chief, his old enemy.
