La Relève

Relève, La

La Relève was a monthly magazine founded in 1934 in Montréal by Paul Beaulieu, Robert CHARBONNEAU, Jean Le Moyne and Claude Hurtubise. The magazine published 103 issues before its demise in 1948, the first 48 as La Relève and the rest as La Nouvelle Relève. Major Québec contributors included Le Moyne, Robert Élie, Roger Duhamel and Saint-Denys GARNEAU, and later Guy Frégault, Berthelot Brunet and others; among the major French ones were Daniel-Rops, Jacques Maritain, Emmanuel Mounier and Georges Bernanos. The original objective was to establish an "independent, national and Catholic" group to work towards correcting the sad lack of art, literature and philosophy in the country. The main themes were the economic crisis of the 1930s, perceived as a crisis of civilization; revolution, ie, the transformation of society in accordance with a Mounier-inspired "personalist" and communal belief system (see CITÉ LIBRE); CATHOLICISM, the best way to establish a new social consensus modelled on the Christian Middle Ages; art and literature as a means of spiritual development; marriage and the family, values badly needed in a chaotic world. The magazine explored these subjects with great openness of spirit - something that set it apart from other nationalist and traditionalist publications. However, edited by young bourgeois Montréalers with no financial worries, it was also highly idealistic: its articles frequently posed general questions about contemporary civilization but ignored the real problems then facing Québec society. It had little social, economic or political impact, but it did make a significant contribution to the world of ideas.

See also LITERARY PERIODICALS IN FRENCH.