Description
Book SynopsisToday, more and more grandmothers around the world are taking on varied responsibilities and many roles, sometimes concurrently. Consequently, grandmothers continue to play, as in the past, an influential role not only in the lives of their grandchildren, but also in our communities and in society more broadly. Grandmothers and Grandmothering: Creative and Critical Contemplations in Honour of our Women Elders, as the title suggests, seeks to pay homage to our grandmothers and their contributions to society. As well, it aims to explore the textured and complex phenomena of grandmothering from a range of disciplines and cultural perspectives. Our hope is that this collection challenges preconceived notions of what it means to be a grandmother and provides insight into the multifaceted nature of grandmothering.
Trade ReviewGrandmothers and Grandmothering is an important collection that will help all readers honor the legacy of their grandmothers and foremothers. The stories, art, poems, and analysis herein complicate and expand our cultural expectations of grandmothers, while creating nuanced portraits of women who were much more than their grandmotherly role. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in revisiting treasured (or painful) pasts, as well as those looking toward a rich future as an elder. - Nicole L. Willey, PhD, Professor of English, Kent State University Tuscarawas // Grandmothers & Grandmothering: Weaving Creative and Scholarly Perspectives In Honour of Our Women Elders is a timely and vast look at the subject. This take on the topic t offers new research, and considerations, on the importance of grandmothers. The result is both highly instructive, and optimistic about the possibilities of this identity, and the many roles it fills. The book challenges our notions of traditional grandmothers/mothering and, in doing so, spurs the subject to new research and conversational opportunities. Requiring a modern rewrite, this book reshapes the folklore around elder knowledge production and indeed, weaves, creativity and scholarship in important ways, resulting in an important reengagement with and identity category prone to dismissal. - Jessica Jennrich Ph.D., Director of the Center for Women and Gender Equity, Grand Valley State University
Table of ContentsDedication Acknowledgements Foreword Gina Valle Introduction & Postscript Kathy Mantas Chapter 1 The Paradoxes of Grandmothering: An Autobiographical Experience of Two Lesbian Grandmothers in South Africa Fikile Vilakazi & Janette Zodwa Magubane Chapter 2 North of the Diamond Elizabeth Johnston Ambrose Chapter 3 Saying I Love You: Khmer-American Style Bunkong Tuon Chapter 4 My Esther: Darkness and the Shine Joanne M. Clarkson Chapter 5 The Stories of Carolyn King of Parry Island Jennifer King Chapter 6 Malleable Matter Maja A. Ngom Chapter 7 Gail Peters Little: Relationship of Love and Abandonment Marion G. Dumont Chapter 8 Grandmothering in the Context of Criminal Justice: Grandmothers in Prison and Grandmothers as Caregivers When a Parent is Imprisoned Lucy Baldwin Chapter 9 A Series of Four Poems, Variations on a Theme: The Mother of a New Mother, at Birth of a Child Janet e. Smith Chapter 10 Grandmothers Near and Far Michele Hoffnung and Emily Stier Adler Chapter 11 Walk Beside Me Debbie Lee Chapter 12 Have Moon Fairies Flown Away?: Evolving Role of Grandmothers in Pakistan Anwar Shaheen & Abeerah Ali Chapter 13 A Patchwork Life Gladys Loewen, Sharon Loewen Shepherd and William Loewen Chapter 14 Not a Fairy Grandmother Lorinda Peterson Chapter 15 When Wisdom Speaks Sparks Fly: Raging Grannies Perform Humor as Protest Carole Roy Chapter 16 Nokmisag: Bemnigying Moktthewenkwe Barbara Wall Contributor Notes
