Graduation Term

2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Department of English

Committee Chair

Katherine Ellison

Abstract

Through a close analysis of Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive and a comparative analysis of the intertexts it references, this dissertation argues that literary scholars and literacy pedagogues can learn from sound studies and archival practices together to achieve more socially just reading, writing, and teaching. The novel narrates a family traveling across the United States, not only experiencing their own journey but also learning about past forced migrations upon the same land and present attempted migrations into the country. As they encounter and interact with different print, audio, and visual artifacts, the characters achieve a more inclusive and complex understanding of both their familial and national narratives. Sometimes these artifacts are woven into the narrative itself, while others are listed explicitly in “boxes,” which serve as the novel’s bibliography and shape the eclectic reading list that inspired this dissertation. Through her intentional method of intertextuality, Luiselli lets the past, present, and future be heard simultaneously through the family’s story and provides a model for both literary analysis and literacy teaching. Just as the study of sound trains ears to hear simultaneity and multiplicity, archival approaches curate and hold different perspectives and temporalities together at once; from these interdisciplinary assertions, I propose a methodology and pedagogy of resonance that helps readers understand stories that move between geographic spaces and historical realities.

Access Type

Dissertation-Open Access

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2024.20240827063558138535.999963

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