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A Critical Bond: Cultural Transmission and Nation-Building in Métis and Chicana/o Picture Books

  • Author / Creator
    Lamb, Danielle Monica
  • It was not until the later part of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century that Métis and Chicana/o authors began to create picture books as a counter-literary response to the discrimination that they faced as mixed-race peoples. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the literary contributions by Métis and Chicana/o writers to show how the bond between grandparent and grandchild shapes transcultural identities in picture books. I analyze Métis identity and nation-building elements in Relatives with Roots: A Story About Métis Women’s Connection to the Land/ Lii Peraantii avik la Rasin: Eñ Nistwaar Taanishi lii Faam di Michif E’ishi Kisheyitakik li Tayraeñ (2011) by Leah Dorion; Flour Sack Flora (2001) by Deborah L. Delaronde; Fiddle Dancer/Li daanseur di vyaeloon (2007), Dancing in My Bones/La daans daan mii zoo (2009), and Call of the Fiddle/ Li Vayaloon ka Tapypwatikooyen (2011) by Wilfred Burton and Anne Patton; and Jenneli’s Dance (2008) by Elizabeth Denny. I compare those Métis picture books with Chicana/o texts like Pat Mora’s The Beautiful Lady: Our Lady of Guadalupe (2012); Gloria Anzaldúa’s Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del otro lado (1993) and Prietita and the Ghost Woman/Prietita y La Llorona (1995); and Amada Irma Pérez’s My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aquí hasta allá (2002). My disseration offers a comparison of the children’s literature of New Peoples in North America. I argue that in this self-validating literature Métis and Chicana/o authors promote visual and textual literacy to create a sense of pride in being a member of their respective nations. Picture books provide the required space for identity recovery, assertion, and transmission of their transcultural identities.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Spring 2017
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Doctor of Philosophy
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R39C6SC7J
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.
  • Language
    English
  • Institution
    University of Alberta
  • Degree level
    Doctoral
  • Department
  • Supervisor / co-supervisor and their department(s)
  • Examining committee members and their departments
    • Sing, Pamela V. (Campus Saint Jean)
    • Kaup, Monica (English)
    • Altamirano-Jiménez, Isable (Political Science)
    • Sywenky, Irene (Modern Languages and Cultural Studies)