Louisiana Island Stories: Cultural and Coastal Erosion, As Seen Through Kate Chopin's the Awakening, Lafcadio Hearn's Chita: a Memory of Last Island, and the Stories of Isle De Jean Charles

Authors

Amanda Keith, The College of Wooster

Abstract

Currently, southern Louisiana faces rapid coastal erosion due to the development of the oil industry, sea level rise, and salt-water intrusion that kills and washes away protective vegetation. Along with these environmental disasters, the communities on Louisiana's islands face cultural erosion as their land changes, erodes, and they are forced to move.Furthermore, as the land changes, the literature that is based on those islands are severely affected. In analyzing the importance of the environment and cultural production in Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Lafcadio Hearn's Chita: A Memory of Last Island, and stories I've collected from the Biloxi-Chitimacha chief on the Isle de Jean Charles, I argue how important is it to protect both the stories and the land itself.

Advisor

Naous, Mazen

Department

English

Recommended Citation

Keith, Amanda, "Louisiana Island Stories: Cultural and Coastal Erosion, As Seen Through Kate Chopin's the Awakening, Lafcadio Hearn's Chita: a Memory of Last Island, and the Stories of Isle De Jean Charles" (2011). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 487.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/487

Disciplines

Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority

Keywords

kate chopin, lafcadio hearn, grand isle, isle de jean charles, louisiana, environment, cultural production, islands

Publication Date

2011

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis