What is it about?

This text provides an overview of the historio-cultural of the development of the French language and French-based cultures in Louisiana both before and after it became an official part of the United States in 1812. One of the primary themes of the chapter involves a problematization of the received binary of Cajun / Creole; this analysis includes the relatively recent emergence of Louisiana Créolité, a movement to unite all French-language cultures of Louisiana which problematizes several periphery / center binaries.

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Why is it important?

While many French language cultures have been widely studied in numerous literary fields and disciplines, with results often presented in a global context, studies of French Louisiana have been comparatively rare. This text provides an overview of the development of Louisiana French cultures, and attempts to place them in relation to other French cultures as well as in the context of both other Romance language fields and Anglo-American spaces.

Perspectives

It was a pleasure and a privilege to be presented with the opportunity to contribute to the anthology Centers and Peripheries in Romance Language Literatures in the Americas and Africa (Kyloušek, 2023), in particular to have the chance to present to a wider audience the French language culture of Louisiana. Both my mother's and father's sides of my family are 100% Louisiana French. I was born and raised in Louisiana, a state layered with a history and heritage quite unlike any other place in the United States. Much of the differences come from older traditions based on French, Spanish and Afro-Caribbean institutions and attitudes as opposed to those of the (once) dominant Anglo-American culture.

Daniel Sampey
Tomas Bata University in Zlín

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This page is a summary of: “Lâche pas la patate”: French Language Cultures in Louisiana, January 2024, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004691131_019.
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