Québec in France: towards an understanding of the trans-Atlantic French-Québec subject

This paper examines the events commemorating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québec City in 2008 and, in particular, the ways in which the Québec 400 was celebrated in Western France. The author argues that the events provide an instance of trans-Atlantic subject formation. Through analyzing a series of public events that took place in the La Rochelle region of France in 2008, the author argues that this extra-national raciality was constituted through two specific modes: practices of territoriality that signify a ‘cartography of origins’ and tropes of family that affirm the racialized dimensions of Québécois belonging in France.