Login | Register

Space, place, and identity in the prose of Dionne Brand

Title:

Space, place, and identity in the prose of Dionne Brand

Silver, Robyn (2007) Space, place, and identity in the prose of Dionne Brand. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

[thumbnail of MR28846.pdf]
Preview
Text (application/pdf)
MR28846.pdf - Accepted Version
5MB

Abstract

Dionne Brand's prose explores the Black subjects' relation to place and space across both historical and spatial trajectories. Focusing on Brand's prose, the thesis draws on recent scholarship in the areas of literature and social geography to pursue questions of identity and identification and to examine the intersection of gendered and racialized subjectivities with place and space through the foci of language and history. Examinations of At the Full and Change of the Moon (1999), No Burden to Carry (1991), A Map to the Door of No Return (2001), and selected stories from Sans Souci and Other Stories (1988) investigate the implications of place and space in the retrieval and retelling of personal and collective histories. These texts explore how the Canadian present enables the creation of a history for Black subjects in Canada, one that is inflected by the other places and spaces of the Caribbean and Africa. As identities are developed, learned, and articulated through the language of a place, I consider In Another Place, Not Here (1997) and Bread Out of Stone (1994) to explore possibilities of exclusion and silencing, belonging and empowerment, and resistance, as expressed in and through language. Lastly, What We All Long For (2005) highlights a shift in Brand's representation of identities, places, and spaces, and my analysis considers the continuities and new approaches to Brand's depiction of the relation of identity to place and space.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > English
Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Authors:Silver, Robyn
Pagination:v, 122 leaves ; 29 cm.
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M.A.
Program:English
Date:2007
Thesis Supervisor(s):Freiwald, Bina Toledo
Identification Number:LE 3 C66E54M 2007 S55
ID Code:975337
Deposited By: Concordia University Library
Deposited On:22 Jan 2013 16:06
Last Modified:13 Jul 2020 20:07
Related URLs:
All items in Spectrum are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved. The use of items is governed by Spectrum's terms of access.

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads per month over past year

Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
- Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
Back to top Back to top