Raôul Duguay

Raôul Duguay (born February 13, 1939) is an artist, poet, musician, and political activist in the Canadian province of Quebec. He been an active performer since 1966. Duguay is a longtime supporter of the Quebec sovereigntist movement and has run for public office on at least two occasions.

Contents

Artist

Duguay was born in Val d'Or in the Abitibi region of Quebec, an event that he later chronicled on the semi-autobiographical track "La bittt à Tibi" on his first album. He began writing poetry in the 1950s, and his first two anthologies were published in 1966 and 1967.

He met Walter Boudreau in 1967, and the two artists formed L'Infonie shortly thereafter. This project was intended both as a music group and a new approach to collective improvisation; Duguay published its manifesto in 1970. The group released a number of albums on the avant-garde side of Quebec's progressive rock and jazz-rock scenes before dissolving in 1973.[1] Boudreau and Duguay have re-united on occasion since then, including in 2007 for an Orgues et Couleurs festival.[2]

Duguay released his first solo album in 1975, entitled Alllô tôulmônd; this album features "Tôuttt etô bôuttt," one of his best known tracks. The following year, he performed in front of 400,000 people at the province's Fête nationale, an annual Quebec nationalist cultural event.[3] Duguay released several more solo albums in the seventies, eighties, and nineties; after a gap of eleven years, he returned with J'ai souf in 2010.[4] His song "La bittt à Tibi" was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.[5]

Duguay also provided the music for the film Les Fleurs Sauvages (1982), for which he received a Genie nomination.[6] In 1984, he took part in a musical collaboration with Parti Québécois legislator Gilles Baril.[7] In 1996, he provided the text for a revised version of Terry Riley's In C.[8]

Duguay has continued to publish works of poetry. His sixteenth volume, entre la lettre et l'esprit, was issued in 2001.[9] He has also worked in the visual arts as a painter and sculptor.[10]

Political activist

Duguay is a longtime supporter of Quebec sovereigntism. In his poem Trente Lettres (1995), he described Canada as a father who "never gave mother [Quebec] an orgasm."[11] In 2010, he signed a public letter criticizing the organizers of Quebec City's Festival d'été for booking mostly anglophone acts to perform.[12]

Duguay ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1972 federal election as a non-affiliated candidate in Longueuil, under the name "Raôul Wéziwézô Duguay." He finished well behind Liberal candidate Jacques Olivier.[13] In the 1998 provincial election, he ran as a candidate of the governing Parti Québécois in Brome—Missisquoi.[14] He finished second to Liberal incumbent Pierre Paradis.[15]

Discography

Anthologies

Electoral record

1998 Quebec provincial election : Brome-Missisquoi edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal (x)Pierre Paradis 18,127 57.17 -3.95
     Parti Québécois Raôul Duguay 9,789 30.87 +1.07
     Action démocratique Eric Larivière 3,599 11.35 +4.58
     Natural Law Jean-Charles Rouleau 194 0.61 -0.30
Total valid votes 31,709 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 258
Turnout 31,967 80.56 -3.51
Electors on the lists 39,680

Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

1972 federal election : Longueuil edit
Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal Jacques Olivier 22,129 44.62
     Social Credit Emile-A. Vadeboncoeur 12,091 24.38
     Progressive Conservative Marcel Robidas 7,015 14.14
     New Democratic Party Robert Mansour 4,548 9.17
     Independent Jacques Gendron 2,020 4.07
     Non-Affiliated Raôul Wéziwézô Duguay 1,625 3.28
     N/A (Marxist-Leninist) André Pesant 170 0.34
Total valid votes 49,598 100.00
Total rejected ballots 2,977
Turnout 52,575 72.56
Electors on the lists 72,458

Source: Official Voting Results, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (Canada), 1972.

External links

References

  1. ^ Québec Info Musique: Raôul Duguay, Biographie, accessed 14 December 2010.
  2. ^ Arthur Kaptainis, "Heavens, what a concert," Montreal Gazette, 29 September 1998, E5.
  3. ^ Juan Rodriguez, "Music is the Message: How Quebec artists seize the moment to fuel a movement," Montreal Gazette, 22 October 2005, D1.
  4. ^ Québec Info Musique: Raôul Duguay, Discographie, accessed 14 December 2010.
  5. ^ "kids in the hall (of fame)," Toronto Star, 28 February 2008, E01.
  6. ^ Jay Scott, "Top Genie prospects for Jack Miner move," Globe and Mail, 10 February 1983, p. 23; Vincent Canby, "SCREEN: TWO WORKS BY CANADIAN DIRECTOR," New York Times, 9 November 1984.
  7. ^ "Young legislator rocks for charity," Globe and Mail, 16 July 1984, M9.
  8. ^ Arthur Kaptainis, "SMCQ turns 30, unveils new season," Montreal Gazette, 21 September 1996, E9. Walter Boudreau also participated in this project.
  9. ^ Raôul Duguay, écrivain, Raôul Duguay home page, accessed 14 December 2010.
  10. ^ Raôul Duguay, le sculpteur, Raôul Duguay home page, accessed 14 December 2010; Raôul Duguay, le peintre, Raôul Duguay home page, accessed 14 December 2010
  11. ^ This turn of phrase is referenced in Ray Conlogue, "Quebec artists face the fear," Globe and Mail, 14 October 1995, E1. The original was, of course, written in French.
  12. ^ Marianne White, "Festival d'été draws ire of sovereignists," Montreal Gazette, 7 May 2010, C10.
  13. ^ History of Federal Ridings since 1867: LONGUEUIL (1972/10/30), Parliament of Canada, accessed 14 December 2010.
  14. ^ Hubert Bauch, "Marquee candidates getting hard to find," Montreal Gazette, 19 October 1998, A1. This article described Duguay as a "hippie/New Age poet-philosopher."
  15. ^ Official Results, Government of Quebec, accessed 14 December 2010.