Where Is Home? Storied Places and Belonging in Indigenous and Immigrant Fantasy Novels for Children

Abstract:

This article examines how “home” is constructed for the young protagonists in two Canadian fantasy novels for children, Cree author David Robertson's The Barren Grounds (2020) and Vietnamese Canadian author Linh S. Nguyễn's No Place Like Home (2023). The article showcases how the genre of other-world fantasy provides a fitting framework for addressing both the complexities of belonging and the challenges surrounding settler colonialism. The literary analysis reads the two books in relation to each other, revealing how they conceptualize home as emerging from stories and relationships and thereby transcending the confines of the settler-colonial nation-state. Finally, the article underscores how these novels teach their readers about respectful relationships between Indigenous peoples and immigrants, along with the responsibilities entailed for the latter.

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This article “Where Is Home? Storied Places and Belonging in Indigenous and Immigrant Fantasy Novels for Children” originally appeared in How to Be at Home in Canada: Placemaking in Indigenous, Diasporic, and Settler Texts. Spec. issue of Canadian Literature 258/259 (/ 2024): 134-153.

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