Fall/automne 2005
Articles

« Le Muscle et le Vouloir » : Les sports dans les collèges classiques masculins au Québec, 1870-1940

Christine Hudon
Professeure agrégé au département d'histoire et de sciences politiques de l'Université de Sherbrooke.
Bio
Published January 18, 2007
Keywords
  • sports,
  • education,
  • Catholic spirituality
How to Cite
Hudon, Christine. 2007. “« Le Muscle Et Le Vouloir » : Les Sports Dans Les collèges Classiques Masculins Au Québec, 1870-1940”. Historical Studies in Education / Revue d’histoire De l’éducation 17 (2). https://doi.org/10.32316/hse/rhe.v17i2.42.

Abstract

Modern sports appeared in classical colleges for boys in the 1870s. Their function was to contribute to character formation and to the control of physical drives. The introduction of these sports activities was based on two factors: the changing relationship to the body and the transofmation of the accompanying masculine ideal, and the renewal of Catholic spirituality. This article highlights the susceptibility of classical colleges to external influences. It demonstrates that sports became an instrument in a religious education that promoted a spirituality with masculine undertones, based not on a contempt for the body but on an asceticism that sought to strengthen it.