Physicality, Landscape, Language … Home: Locating and Connecting to Place in David Bouchard’s ‘Cultural Books’

Abstract

David Bouchard bridges cultures in his dual language oeuvre. Through notions of the physical and the Canadian landscape, and in First Nations, Michif, and European-descended languages, Bouchard is able to create narratives of place through poetry, storytelling, and descriptive chirography. The texts, which are complemented by prominent First Nations artists’ illustrations and music, embody Bouchard’s reclamation of his cultural heritages for himself and his daughter.

Keywords

• reading
• new literacies
• bouchard
• michif
• cree
• delaware
• kwak’wala
• mi’kmaq
• ojibwe
• ojibway
• innu
• lenape
• first nations
• canadian
• cultural texts
• dual language texts
• picture books
• history
• environment
• citizenship
• social justice