Research project Indigenous Narratives and Territorial Anchoring
Memory, Survival, and Literary Activism in the Works of Innu Women Writers
Innu women’s literary activism plays a crucial role in contemporary Francophone discussions on Indigenous sovereignty and cultural resilience. Their texts do not merely depict land as a physical space but as a living entity deeply connected to identity, memory, and community. Through concepts such as nutshimit (an immersive experience of the land) and nitassinan (the territory as collective identity), these authors challenge colonial and Western narratives of land and belonging.
Project description
This project examines how Innu women’s literary works function as a form of political engagement and how they navigate between local and global visibility. The study analyzes their use of maternal metaphors, ecological themes, and self-determination as literary strategies to reclaim historical narratives and disrupt colonial epistemologies.
Project members
Project managers
Christophe Premat
Associate Professor
Publications
Premat, C. (2018b)
Pour une généalogie critique de la Francophonie. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press.
Premat, C. (2018a)
Mémoire et survivance dans Kuessipan de Naomi Fontaine et Comment je perçois la vie, grand-mère de Rita Mestokosho. Nouvelles études francophones, vol. 33, n. 2: 91-107