Watch Voir le jour from Natalie Doonan on Vimeo This research-creation project focuses on breastfeeding in public as an act of claiming space for the common good. Its audio-visual component, “Voir le jour,” is part of a larger work that includes community screenings and locative storytelling. “Voir le jour” consists of recordings of nursing mothers, breastfeeding experts, and activists sharing their stories about the joys and challenges of breastfeeding outside the home. These stories are accompanied by a slideshow of photographs depicting moms nursing in public spaces. “Voir le jour” renders the labour of mothering audible and visible in public spaces, including online. It was created in part for use by the breastfeeding support organization Nourri-Source Montréal. “Voir le jour” contests the notion that “public” and “private” are distinct spatial categories. The fact that breastfeeding is commonly relegated to the sphere of domestic activity is a testament to the tenacious grip of patriarchy in everyday life, and leads to isolation for many new mothers. The discomfort that may be felt in response to seeing intimate experiences between mothers and babies is part of transforming the myth that private and public activities and spaces are discrete and separate spheres.

Les chercheurs doivent citer ce travail comme suit :

• Doonan, N., (2025), "Voir le jour: Breastfeeding and the commons", HSSCommons: (DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v5i1.227)

  Copy Citation | Export metadata as... | JSON | CSV | RO-Crate | BibTex | EndNote

1. affective labour
2. breastfeeding and public space
3. common good
4. intimate citizenship
5. mothering and public space
6. new maternalisms
7. performance and mothering

Original publication: Doonan, Natalie. "Voir le jour: Breastfeeding and the commons." Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, vol. 5, no. 1, 2018, pp. 156-162. DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v5i1.227. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation. Copyright © the author(s). Work published in CFS/RCÉA prior to and including Vol. 8, No. 3 (2021) is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY license. Work published in Vol. 8, No. 4 (2021) and after is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA license. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/.