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Canadian Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror pp 293–309Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Holes Within and Bridges Beyond: The Transfictions of Élisabeth Vonarburg and Michel Tremblay

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Part of the book series: Studies in Global Science Fiction ((SGSF))

Abstract

This chapter examines the question of seriality and the notion of the writer building bridges between discrete texts through the genre convention of the “cycle.” Élisabeth Vonarburg’s “Bridge Cycle” (1980–2009) explicitly features a bridge that allows her protagonists to travel between parallel worlds. Bérard examines her work in tandem with that of one of Québec’s most famous “mainstream” writers, Michel Tremblay. Best known for his pathbreaking theatrical works set in Montréal’s gay community, in his earliest fiction Tremblay was influenced by H. P. Lovecraft, and he consistently invokes the supernatural. Admitting that these writers’ corpuses are quite different, Bérard nonetheless teases out how they create fictional worlds that traverse textual boundaries. The study shows the crossings between the two universes; how Vonarburg’s science fiction and fantasy (sff) is anchored in the genre in both a transnational and specifically Québécois fashion, and how Tremblay’s intrinsically Québécois world has always been connected to the fantastical.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada

    Sylvie Bérard

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  1. Sylvie Bérard
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of World Languages and Cultures, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA

    Amy J. Ransom

  2. Brescia University College, London, ON, Canada

    Dominick Grace

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Bérard, S. (2019). Holes Within and Bridges Beyond: The Transfictions of Élisabeth Vonarburg and Michel Tremblay. In: Ransom, A., Grace, D. (eds) Canadian Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Studies in Global Science Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15685-5_17

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