Are you going to Old Orchard again this year? Quebec's New England outpost

Inroads, Winter 2005 by Cuccioletta, Donald

Of course, they acknowledged Old Orchard had changed over the years, as everything in life changes. But they did not sit in judgment and in many ways like it even more today because they see more Americans coming - hard-working American families like themselves, trying to have a good summer vacation, which they surely deserved.

Upon my return from my Old Orchard pilgrimage, my daughter, a graduate in art history from l'Université du Québec à Montréal, welcomed me back to Montreal with, "Hey! You went to Old Orchard, the kingdom of kitsch." I felt a little embarrassed. seeing my embarrassment she insisted on educating me, "Don't be! Even Andy Warhol celebrated popular culture as an art form born from the people. Opera when it first started was considered popular culture of the day. Popular culture, kitsch, should be studied - its good points and its bad points - but we should never denigrate it. Sure Old Orchard is kitsch but it is our Québécois kitsch!"

So, as I looked over to my wife, I asked, "Are we going to go to Old Orchard again next year?"

Note

1 Readers can follow the discussion of lhis idea ol the américanité of the Québécois in Quebec Studies, Spring 2002, which published a dossier on the subject based on research conducted by the GRAM (Group de recherché sur l'américanité), under the direction of the author.

Donald Cuccioletta is Professor and Interim Managing Director, Institute of Quebec Studies, Plattsburgh State University of New York.