French Literature Reviews - 2026

B. Melançon, Les yeux de Maurice Richard. Une histoire culturelle.
History, Politics and Society

Benoît Melançon

Les yeux de Maurice Richard
Une histoire culturelle

Montreal, Fides éditions, 2006.

ISBN 2-7621-2681-9 • 288 pages • $29.95

Maurice Richard is not dead.
In Quebec, as in the rest of Canada, he is everywhere. Once merely a hockey player, he is now a national myth. Everyone has a story to tell about him.

How did we get here? Why?
The legendary number 9 of the Montreal Canadiens has been the subject of all kinds of writing: periodical articles and scholarly texts, biographies and memoirs, tales and short stories, novels and youth literature, poems and plays. Songs, comic books, sculptures, paintings, films, and television broadcasts have been dedicated to him. His face has graced clothing, toys, advertisements. Public places have been named after him. To understand the evolution of how Maurice Richard has been represented since the beginning of his career, a history was needed.

Benoît Melançon is a professor at the Université de Montréal. He has published or edited books on 18th-century French literature, correspondence and email, scholarly publishing, Quebec literature, Canadian cultural policy, the literary essay, and the language in Quebec. He is the scientific director of the Presses de l’Université de Montréal.

www.lesyeuxdemauricerichard.com

Benoît Melançon is a professor at the Université de Montréal who has published or edited books on various subjects including Quebec literature and Canadian cultural policy. The legendary number 9 of the Montreal Canadiens has been the subject of all kinds of writing, including periodical articles, scholarly texts, biographies, memoirs, novels, poems, and plays. Songs, comic books, sculptures, paintings, films, and television broadcasts have also been dedicated to him, while public places have been named after him to reflect his status as a national myth.

Cultural history as a discipline frequently investigates the intersection of sports icons and collective identity within modern societies. Readers interested in the cultural history of Quebec and the sociology of sport may find this exploration of media representation relevant.