Lost in translation : new media, performance, & identity in Quebec

A descriptive exploration of the impact on contemporary Québécois performing arts by new media and communication technologies, this thesis provides a historical and critical evaluation of "multimedia theatre" in Quebec. Drawing on Turner's theories of performative ritual and Armour & Trott's writing on culture and the Canadian mind, as well as the work of Benjamin, Ellul, Grant, Heidegger, Innis, and McLuhan on technology and cultural production, and the issues of time and space raised by the work of Gilles Maheu, Josette Féral, Patrice Pavis, and Robert Lepage, among others, this thesis argues that while prior research has located Quebec's arts culture in provincial drives for sovereignty and cultural recognition, it might better be understood as a narrative of a people in search of self-identification, offering new perspectives by which to understand an interlinked development of technology and artistic endeavour that has long been in need of critical examination.