Bienvenue au pays de la vie ordinaire (“Welcome to the Land of Ordinary Life”) by Mathieu Bélisle is a 2017 essay. Bélisle explores how Quebec culture is fundamentally shaped by the “prosaic”—the everyday, the humble, and the modest—as opposed to romanticism or lofty idealism. In it, he argues that Quebec society is anchored in routines, common experiences, and practical values (work, family, daily life). Yet, this ordinary orientation carries the risk of cultural insignificance unless balanced by aspirations toward something greater. He presents the “average Quebecer” as emblematic of a broader Western challenge: reconciling the mundane with the appetite for transcendence.
This is when I realized that many cultural works in Quebec revolve around the everyday life we live. Artists have long drawn inspiration from the quotidien — the ordinary rhythms of life — and transformed them into compelling cultural expressions. This artistic instinct to elevate the everyday is not a retreat from grandeur but a celebration of authenticity.
On the stage, Michel Tremblay’s groundbreaking play Les Belles-Sœurs epitomizes the elevation of everyday language and life. Written in joual — the vernacular of working-class Montrealers — the play gave voice and dignity to women often ignored in high culture. The characters, gathered to paste stamps in a modest kitchen, reveal inner frustrations, dreams, and community dynamics. Tremblay’s theatre made the domestic space a site of revolution, asserting that the emotional lives of ordinary women were as worthy of theatrical spotlight as the tragedies of kings and heroes.
In visual arts, the Depanneur BLG project transforms the most mundane of Quebec institutions — the corner store — into an art gallery. These “dépanneurs” are woven into the fabric of daily Quebec life, serving as places of casual encounters, late-night snacks, and local news. Artists reinterpret the familiar aisles and counters, framing them as spaces of nostalgia, memory, and cultural identity. By reframing the dépanneur as an aesthetic object, they reveal layers of meaning in its functionality and ubiquity.
Musically, bands like Les Cowboys Fringants and artists such as Robert Charlebois infuse their lyrics with the texture of daily Quebec life — the slang, the politics, the places. Their songs are at once joyful and critical, chronicling everything from suburbia to social malaise, with melodies that invite communal singing and reflection. Charlebois’ irreverent poetry and the Cowboys’ folk-pop anthems turn everyday experiences into collective emotion, making the banal resonate across generations.
A type of television series is called les Quotidiennes. Shows like Virginie, and 30 Vies immerse viewers in the lives of people who resemble their neighbours, co-workers, or relatives. These shows turn familiar kitchens, classrooms, and workplaces into stages for emotional drama and absurd comedy. Still in television, La Petite Vie became one of Quebec’s most beloved and highest-rated series. It tapped directly into the province’s affection for the absurdities of daily life. With its exaggerated characters, working-class setting, and surreal humor rooted in the banal. The plot lines were based on couples bickering, holiday dinners gone awry, and family feuds over trivial matters. All the while, the show elevated the ordinary to mythic proportions. It celebrated the rich emotional texture of everyday existence, reminding Quebecers that their own lives — messy, loud, and full of contradictions — were not only worthy of being seen, but of being laughed at, cherished, and turned into art. In doing so, La Petite Vie embodied a distinctly Québécois culture: the joy of the ordinary.