Original scientific paper

Identity and Transculture in Vice Versa

Alessandra Renzi

Abstract

Quebec's struggle between francophones and anglophones has deeply affected other
immigrant communities' identitarian practices. Within Montreal's eighties and nineties
nationalist environment some Italo-Quebecois worked as a bridge between the two
groups through the transcultural magazine Vice Versa. The article presents some findings
from a case study that looks at how Vice Versa challenged dominant perceptions of
identity and its role in society. It assumes that identity is negotiated between individuals,
that language and ethnicity are key factors for social mobility and symbolic power
on the marketplace, and that these function through hegemony. Through its use of untranslated
French, English and Italian and its articles' contents Vice Versa's discourse
on transculture undermines the assumption that identity is necessary for social interaction
and negotiates new categories that dissolve ethnic boundaries. Vice Versa is a unique
example of the emergence of a counter-hegemonic movement questioning identity at
its roots.

Keywords

transculturalism; ethnic identity; Quebec; Vice Versa

Hrčak ID:

27947

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/27947

Publication date:

24.6.2004.

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