In the summer of 2018, Quebec experienced a brutal introduction to the notion of cultural appropriation when one of its most famous playwrights, Robert Lepage, had two of his productions cancelled in the face of protests from activists who criticized him for representing their reality without their consent and for featuring very few members of their community.

In an accessible, clear and nuanced essay, Groffier sets out to explain the origins, overarching concepts and implications of the cultural appropriation debate. Groffier uses the experience of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples as an example, and argues that they are still struggling to find ways to tell their own stories. The questions she poses, however, go beyond this specific case: Who has the right to represent others and their reality without distorting its meaning and usurping its legitimacy? And, above all, who decides?

In Dire l’autre [Voicing the Other], Ethel Groffier does not take a position, but suggests that any agreement on cultural appropriation with Aboriginal people must involve a renewed dialogue based on reconciliation.