Coming of age as a culture? emancipatory and hegemonic readings of the indian in the cupboard

Many texts contain both hegemonic and emancipatory messages, with considerable tensions created between them. To better understand this phenomenon, we analyze The Indian in the Cupboard. Three elements promote emancipatory readings: the theme of maturation, overt challenges to hegemonic codes, and the proffering of implicit alternatives to those codes. We conclude with a discussion of how texts such as The Indian in the Cupboard can play a role in perpetuating as well as undermining existing patterns of cultural interaction and dominance.