Mapping the ground: A critical and creative exploration of the diary of Ada Sykes, 1912--1915.

This thesis provides a critical and creative exploration of the diary of a woman who pioneered in the upper Fraser River valley of northern British Columbia from 1912 to 1925. Ada Adelia Sykes left a diary in which she kept a record of daily activities throughout a three-year period. My work examines her diary in the context of women's life-writing. First, I discuss various theories of life-writing, arguing that women's life-writing makes important contributions to the understanding of past, present, and self. Next, I analyze the diary in its historical context. Finally, I present original poems, based on the diary entries, as well as on the life of my grandmother, Alice Jane Beaven, a contemporary of Ada Sykes. This thesis demonstrates a trend in which researchers imbricate their own stories in those of their subjects: in telling the stories of Ada Adelia Sykes and Alice Jane Beaven, I tell part of my own story.