(Be)Coming Home: the Complexity of Home As Revealed in Young
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2011 (Be)coming home: the complexity of home as revealed in young adult novels of disaster Charity Elise Cantey Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Cantey, Charity Elise, "(Be)coming home: the complexity of home as revealed in young adult novels of disaster" (2011). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3115. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3115 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. (BE)COMING HOME: THE COMPLEXITY OF HOME AS REVEALED IN YOUNG ADULT NOVELS OF DISASTER A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Curriculum and Instruction by Charity Elise Cantey B.A., University of Louisiana-Lafayette, 1996 M.L.I.S., Louisiana State University, 1998 Ed.S., Louisiana State University, 2003 December 2011 © Copyright 2011 Charity Elise Cantey All rights reserved ii Dedication For my parents, who are my roots, and for all who are my home iii Acknowledgements My deepest thanks go to Dr. Ann Trousdale, whose passion for children‘s literature is contagious. Thank you for inspiring me to continue this journey, and for the immeasurable help and support you‘ve provided over the years. Thank you to Dr. Jacqueline Bach, Dr. Steven Bickmore, Dr. Renée Casbergue, and Dr. Daniel Novak for your support and guidance throughout this process. iv Table of Contents Dedication ................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... viii Prelude ..........................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 – Introduction ...............................................................................................................4 Young People‘s Perceptions of Home ....................................................................................4 Home in Young Adult Literature: Purpose of the Study ........................................................9 Significance of Home ...........................................................................................................11 Research Questions ...............................................................................................................11 Chapter 2 – Literature Review ....................................................................................................13 Home Is a Complex and Multi-faceted Concept...................................................................13 Home Is Revealed through Its Absence ................................................................................15 Home Is Connected to Other People .....................................................................................17 Home Is Deeply Connected to Our Identity, Our Understanding of Self .............................20 ―Home is where one starts from.‖ .........................................................................................23 Home Is Connected to History ..............................................................................................26 Home Is Connected to Geography ........................................................................................29 Home Is an Emotion-based Concept.....................................................................................31 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................35 Chapter 3 – Method of Investigation ..........................................................................................36 Overview of Phenomenology ...............................................................................................36 Examining the Phenomenon of Home in Young Adult Literature: Novels as Representation of the Lived Experience of Phenomena ...............................................38 Seeking an Understanding of Home in Literature ................................................................40 Selecting Novels to Study .....................................................................................................43 Discovering Elements of Home ............................................................................................44 Procedures .............................................................................................................................46 Novels Examined ..................................................................................................................48 Chapter 4 – Results .....................................................................................................................49 The Social Component of Home...........................................................................................53 Longing for People Who Are Missed .............................................................................53 Importance of People in a New Place .............................................................................61 Sense of Community .......................................................................................................64 Being Alone ....................................................................................................................68 The People Who Feel Like Home ...................................................................................72 Summary .........................................................................................................................75 v The Personal Component of Home .......................................................................................76 Home and Identity...........................................................................................................77 Ownership/Rights ...........................................................................................................86 Summary .........................................................................................................................89 The Physical/Geographical Component of Home ................................................................89 Connection to Place ........................................................................................................90 Place Infused with Emotion ............................................................................................99 Physical Sensation ..........................................................................................................99 Defamiliarization of Place ............................................................................................103 Point of Origin ..............................................................................................................105 Summary .......................................................................................................................106 The Instinctual Component of Home ..................................................................................106 Home as a Safe Place ....................................................................................................107 Loss of Safety at Home .................................................................................................108 Longing for a Safe Home ..............................................................................................110 Need for Shelter ............................................................................................................111 Summary .......................................................................................................................112 The Emotional Component of Home ..................................................................................113 The Emotions Connected to Place ................................................................................113 Feeling at Home ............................................................................................................118 Home as World .............................................................................................................123 Summary .......................................................................................................................124 The Temporal/Historical Component of Home ..................................................................124 Memories ......................................................................................................................125 Life Lived in the Place ..................................................................................................129