La solidité des filles chez Naomi Fontaine

This article analyzes the representation of girls in Kuessipan (2011) and Manikanetish (2017) by the Inuit writer Naomi Fontaine. The main characters in both novels are sturdy, capable girls, who lead non-Indigenous readers to question the stereotyped view of Indigenous girls as individuals in distr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Papillon, Joëlle
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:French
Published: Université du Québec à Rimouski 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/tangence/666
Description
Summary:This article analyzes the representation of girls in Kuessipan (2011) and Manikanetish (2017) by the Inuit writer Naomi Fontaine. The main characters in both novels are sturdy, capable girls, who lead non-Indigenous readers to question the stereotyped view of Indigenous girls as individuals in distress who need to be rescued. In Fontaine, Inuit girls—and young mothers in particular—are presented as the creators of communities, the guardians of the nation’s future. Cet article analyse la représentation des filles dans Kuessipan (2011) et Manikanetish (2017) de l’écrivaine innue Naomi Fontaine. Au cœur des deux romans se dressent des personnages de filles solides qui incitent le lectorat non autochtone à remettre en question la perception stéréotypée des filles autochtones en tant que personnes en détresse qu’il faut sauver. Chez Fontaine, les filles innues — et particulièrement les jeunes mères — sont présentées comme des créatrices de communautés, les gardiennes de l’avenir de la nation.