Deux récits de voyage en nouvelle France au dix-septiéme siècle

Abstract

The travel narrative is both a literary genre, a personal journal, and a historical document, offering fresh insight through a vividly contemporary perspective. This thesis deals with the accounts of two late seventeenth-century travellers, [Jacques] de Meulles and [Joseph] de Gargas, to Nova Scotia, known at that time as Acadia. The original manuscripts, which are located in the Killam Library at Dalhousie University have been transcribed in this thesis. The manuscripts have been placed in their historical context and short biographies of the two authors have been reconstructed through a study of contemporary documents and modern critics. Extensive explanatory notes have been added to clarify expressions no longer in current use, geographical name changes and historical figures mentioned. By comparing these manuscripts with each other and with similar accounts written by well-known travellers to Acadia, this thesis attempts to place the views and insights of these two authors in proper perspective. The social and political status of the authors, their purpose in writing and their intended audience influenced greatly their style, the content of their accounts and the significance which may be attributed to them. Thus, in this case contextual research has shed considerable light on the texts themselves.