The spirit of childhood in the Amerindian literature, a sacred territory: the example of N. Scott Momaday

This paper analyses the boundaries of the sacred territory of childhood as it is presented by the Native American writer N. Scott Momaday in his main fictional writings. Childhood will be studied through both thematic and symbolic angles but will also be looked into thanks to an approach of narrative strategies. The texts chosen to carry out this study are the novel The Ancient Child, the play The Indolent Boys, and the children's tales The Children of the Sun and The Circle of Wonder.