Le chandail de hockey

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"Le chandail de hockey" ( dt . "The Hockey Sweater") is an autobiographical short story of the French-Canadian author Roch Carrier from 1979. Herein describes Carrier as a small boy in rural Quebec is forced, in the midst of many fans the Montréal Canadiens with superstar Maurice Richard put on a jersey of the arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs and is laughed at for it. The story achieved cult status in Canada , was made into a cartoon for schools by the National Film Board of Canada , and excerpts from the short story have since adorned the Canadian five-dollar bill .

Table of contents

Traditional jersey design of the Toronto Maple Leafs (blue) and the Montréal Canadiens (red)

Carrier tells how, as a little boy - like all his friends in rural Québec - he was a huge fan of the Montréal Canadiens around Maurice Richard. It is a matter of honor to have hair, clubs and shoes like Richard and to wear the red and blue Canadiens jersey with Richard's jersey number 9 when playing ice hockey. One day Roch is too big for his old hockey sweater. His mother orders him a new Canadiens jersey from the Anglo-Canadian clothing manufacturer Eaton’s in Toronto . To Roch's horror, however, he was sent a blue and white jersey of the archenemy Toronto Maple Leafs. When he tries to send it back, his mother forces him to wear it anyway. She states that the Anglo-Canadian (= powerful) Mr. Eaton would be angry if a French-Canadian (= secondary) child made such demands on him. With the Leafs jersey, Roch makes himself an idiot in front of all his friends and is cut. He smashes his bat in anger, and the angry pastor sends him to church to pray for God's grace. Instead, Roch prays for "a million moths" so that they can eat his hated jersey and he finally get a new one.

meaning

In 2006 Roch Carrier reads from Le chandail de hockey .

The story is an allegory of the often problematic relationships between French-Canadians (embodied by the Canadiens) and Anglo-Canadians (embodied by the Maple Leafs). Franco-Canadians were considered secondary at the time, and Anglo-Canadians were dominant. The story also pays homage to the sport of ice hockey as part of national identity. The story is read regularly in schools and, despite its rather young age (published in 1979), has also become part of Canadian culture.

The quote “Nous vivions en trois lieux: l'école, l'église et la patinoire; mais la vraie vie était sur la patinoire. ” (“ We lived in three places: the school, the church and the skating rink, but real life was on the skating rink. ”) from the short story is on the Canadian five-dollar bill to see.

literature

  • Transl. Sheila Fischman, Illustr. Sheldon Cohen: The Hockey Sweater . Tundra Books , 1984, ISBN 0-88776-169-0 (hardcover), also as TB, also in anthologies. Anniversary edition at Tundra, 2014 ISBN 9781770497627 .
  • Le Chandail de hockey . Livres Toundra, 1987, ISBN 0-88776-171-2 .
  • Une abominable feuille d'érable sur la glace. (other title of the publication), series: Les Enfants du bonhomme dans la lune. Toundra, 1979

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