Unprecedented Voices: An Approach to Contemporary Poetry Written in French by Innu Women Authors

Abstract

The ethnocentric canon of French-language literature has gradually been worn down to open the way for new literary expressions. This is the case of the literature in French by First Nation Canadians. While it has gained visibility, it continues to be relatively little-known outside of —and even inside of— Quebec. To give the Spanish-speaking public the opportunity to fami-liarize itself with, enjoy, and value the contemporary poetry written in French by Innu women authors, this article presents a panorama of the current situation of literary production by Canada’s First Nations. It goes on to focus on what characterizes the Innu unprecedented voices millennial-old voices, voices of insurrection, and voices that are mirrors. The author illustrates this concretely by looking at the poetry of six well-known Innu women writers of different ge-nerations: Joséphine Bacon, Shan Dak, Rita Mestokosho, Maya Cousineau Mollen, Marie-An-drée Gill, and Natasha Kanapé Fontaine. She briefly analyzes some of their works from four interlocking thematic centers: the links between territory, nature, and language; identity; the silence/word binomial in its relationship with dreams; and, finally, the points of contact between transmission and violence that derive in a position of poetic —and even political— resistance.