EMOTIONAL ECO-MATERNITY AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ANIMAL FEELING: DECOLONIAL KINSHIP IN VIRGINIA PESEMAPEO BORDELEAU’S WORKS.

This article explores the intersection of animal emotionality and Indigenous maternal experience in the literary works of Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau. Through the theoretical framework termed emotional eco-maternity, an onto-epistemological praxis of care situated at the nexus of affect theory, Ind...

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Publicado en:Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies & Theory Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 95 - 120
Autor principal: GAJIU, Vera
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj, Faculty of Letters Dec2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Dec2025
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      pub: Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj, Faculty of Letters
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        atl: EMOTIONAL ECO-MATERNITY AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ANIMAL FEELING: DECOLONIAL KINSHIP IN VIRGINIA PESEMAPEO BORDELEAU’S WORKS.
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        au: GAJIU, Vera
        affil: Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies, University of Passau Passau, Germany.
      su:
        Emotions in animals
        Indigenous ethnic identity
        Kinship
        Ecofeminism
        Affect (Psychology)
        Familial behavior in animals
        Authors
      sug:
        subj:
          Emotions in animals
          Indigenous ethnic identity
          Kinship
          Ecofeminism
          Affect (Psychology)
          Familial behavior in animals
          Authors
      keyword:
        animal emotionality
        decolonial ecofeminism
        emotional eco-maternity
        Indigenous feminist epistemologies
        zoopoetics
      ab: This article explores the intersection of animal emotionality and Indigenous maternal experience in the literary works of Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau. Through the theoretical framework termed emotional eco-maternity, an onto-epistemological praxis of care situated at the nexus of affect theory, Indigenous cosmology, and feminist ecology, the study examines how Bordeleau’s Indigenous perspective challenges Western epistemological boundaries separating human and animal emotional lives. While contemporary environmental humanities and affective neuroscience have only recently begun acknowledging animal emotions, Indigenous literature, particularly that authored by women, has long articulated complex understandings of interspecies emotional connection through maternal perspectives. Focusing on Bordeleau’s works L’Enfant hiver, De rouge et de blanc, and Ourse bleue, this article demonstrates how the author constructs narrative spaces in which maternal experience serves as a privileged ground for recognising and representing animal subjectivity. The framework of emotional ecomaternity reveals how these texts resist the colonial erasure of both animal emotion and Indigenous maternal practices. By portraying motherhood as an emotional ecology transcending species boundaries, Bordeleau’s writing performs a form of decolonial resistance that reconnects Indigenous maternal identity with "more-than-human" kinship networks. Ultimately, this study contributes to zoopoetic and decolonial literary criticism by reclaiming Indigenous perspectives on interspecies emotional relations that challenge hierarchical Western divisions of being and affirm reciprocal ties amongst humans, animals, and ecological systems.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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          year: 2025
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