Cité libre

Founding

Inspired by Emmanuel Mounier's philosophic system that took man as its fundamental measure of value, the editorial board, which included Gérard Pelletier and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, assumed that universal man was to be defended from totalitarianism. This abstract philosophy was never translated into concrete social and political objectives. The journal was humanist, progressive and non-doctrinaire — Pierre Vadeboncoeur and Pierre Vallières rubbed shoulders with Maurice Blain, Jean Le Moyne and Gilles Marcotte — and its content demonstrated the unease prevalent in Quebec society during the Grande Noirceur years.

Themes and Values

Secular and anticlericalist in orientation, Cité libre explored religious issues in depth. The journal met intellectual mediocrity and intolerance with a rationalism inspired by the great liberal thinkers. Cité libre sometimes took audacious stands on socioeconomic issues, yet never questioned basic social structures: it argued instead for gradual reform. It was antinationalist and, in politics, primarily concerned with the ethical issues of teaching democratic morality and fighting corruption.

Its search for new values and an identity was more evident in its first series of issues (1950–59) than in its second (1960–66). In the interval, the Quiet Revolution had begun. Starting in July-August 1991, under the direction of Anne-Marie Bourdouxhe, the Cité libre information cooperative published a third series and organised regular meetings with its readers before launching an English edition in 1998. It had the clear objective of defending “critical thinking” against “nationalist unanimity”. The primacy of individual rights over collective rights gave the magazine its unity from one series to the next. After ten years of activity, Cité libre suspended publication again in the summer of 2000.

(See also Literary Periodicals in French.)