Beatrice Goes to France// Beatrice va en France// Beatrice va in Francia: A Trilingual Tale in English, French, and Italian
Open Access
- Author:
- Rhoads, Jayme Renee
- Area of Honors:
- French and Francophone Studies
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Monique Yvonne Yaari, Thesis Supervisor
Jean-Marc Authier, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Trilingual children's book
Trilingual
Children's Literature
English French and Italian
Illustrated Book
French
Italian - Abstract:
- The thesis I have completed is a creative work, rather than a classic research project. It represents my cumulative BA learning experience: my work and research and time spent learning languages here and abroad are all a part of this trilingual children’s book. I was lucky enough to study abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France, and in Todi, Italy. These international experiences have played a crucial role in my language and culture studies and they gave me the inspiration to write this children’s book. This book is about a young Italian girl, Beatrice, who is from Todi. She lives a simple life on her grandmother’s farm. Although she likes her life, she is eager to go to visit her cousin, Rosalie, who lives in the much larger city of Aix, and to see a whole different lifestyle. Anxiety overtakes her though, as she worries whether she will fit in with her chic cousin. When Beatrice arrives in France, Rosalie takes her all around Aix to introduce this Italian cousin to her own favorite places and activities. They go to the open air markets, visit historical sites, walk around aimlessly just getting lost in the winding streets. Beatrice and Rosalie come to realize that their respective lives aren’t all that different, and Rosalie will reciprocate the visit! They both enjoy the simple joys in life and Beatrice is very comforted by that fact. She recognizes that her modest life is wonderful in its own way, and that there is beauty and value in every single way of life. This realization is something that I, too, have experienced when I left my hometown, went to study abroad, and returned home, although my horizons have been greatly expanded by my travels abroad. I used to not be grateful for my way of life here at home, and I thought that I would be much happier somewhere else, when in fact all I needed to do was to just appreciate the life that I do have. Along with this trilingual children’s book, I have included my writer’s statement, which explains in some detail certain decisions I made for the book and the processes of translation involved. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed creating it!