The Imagined Communities of Quebec's science fiction and fantasy: Esther Rochon's Cycle de Vrenalik

West Virginia University Philological Papers, Fall, 2006 by Amy J. Ransom

L'Aigle des profondeurs, the series' first novel, retitled and "considerably augmented" from its original 1974 version for republication in 2002, describes the imaginary world of the Vrenalik Archipelago, which shelters/imprisons the Asven civilization on the verge of extinction because of a four-hundred year old curse linked to the Ocean-god Haztlen. Sorcerer's apprentice Anar Vranengel narrates the events leading up to and including her youth in this society suffering from an "apathie nationale" (AP19). (3) Asven legend, however, leaves hope for survival, even renaissance: if the lost statue of Haztlen can be found and returned to the capital city Fruiken the curse will be lifted. The subsequent volumes trace the events leading up to the statue's return and the Asvens' rediscovery of their place in the world as a people/nation.

Rochon emphasizes in her initial depiction of Vrenalik its isolation, its subjection, and the apathy of its inhabitants. It is clear, though, that the Asven, often referred to as "les gens de l'Archiper" (AP13, 232) form a nation, although not a sovereign one. On the Archipelago, "nous ne sommes pas independants" but rather, as a matter of international law, they are a dependency of the land of Ister-Inga on the mainland to the south (222). This subject nation is a society in decline, threatened with extinction, suffering from "quatre siecles de malheur tombes sur le pays" (11). The "superstition nationale" (129) holds the Asven prisoner on their islands, preventing them from leaving and developing. Nonetheless, in spite of their abjection and the threat of "l'andantissement de notre peuple" (134), Anar Vranengal makes it clear that "nous formons une collectivite malgre tout" (49).

While the nation of Vrenalik derives from both an ethnic group and a "real" geographical location--delineated on the maps published in each novel--Rochon also foregrounds its imaginary nature. Obviously, the Archipelago is a creation of its author, but Rochon also depicts it as the construct of her initial and concluding narrator, Anar Vranengal's imagination. In the "Prologue" to this first volume, the sorceress states "j'ai l'impression que l'Arehipel tient a travers moi" (AP10)--that it is her words which hold the nation together. She also later wonders whether or not "notre enfermement, a Vrenalik, est-il une pure invention ou un fait concret?" (78).

Vrenalik also represents an imaginary space for the lands that surround it, as Anar's mentor, the sorcerer Ivendra, points out:

   L'Arehipel de Vrenalik, ce n'est pas vrai au sens ou le Sud et le
   Nord le desirent. Ils voudraient trouver ici de vraies plages, de
   vrais sauvages, de vraies ressources naturelles et des paysages
   etonnants, ou encore du vrai confort. Mais ici, ce n'est pas un
   vrai pays sauvage: nous avons deja fait fonctionaer des usines.
   Ce n'est pas un vrai pays civilise: il n'y a plus personne, plus de
   richesse, plus d'interet. (AP68)

Ivendra exhorts the Asven to wake up: "Il ne voulait pas que les Asven ratent leur rendezvous avec l'Histoire.... Pour lui, l'enjeu, c'etait la survie des gens de l'Archiper' (136). To survive the crisis, rather than simply die out, the Asven must overcome their pervading fatalism and create an "identite nationale" (142) other than that which the mirror of others holds up for them.