On the routes/roots
This contribution explores the representation of space in the road novel Ourse Bleue from Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau. My hypothesis tends to illustrate the relationship between the two spatial representation networks, tributary to the mixed heritage of the main character, Victoria, a Metis of Cree origin whose spirituality takes from the Catholicism of her youth and a repressed animism, which she tries to rediscover. The journey back to the motherland (James Bay) offers a vision marked by a syncretism where the myths of the Promise Land and Mother Earth are juxtaposed. Both account for the dual movement of deterioration/reappropriation of memory and cultural references: the first is built around the sense of loss that inhabits the deserted landscape of her childhood; the second exploits a hermeneutics of the trace, where reclaiming her identity is in good part due to Victoria’s capacity to interpret the clues of the land.