The Cajun identity

Résumé du document

I have chosen this subject for my first class about Louisiana. The Cajun people just fascinate me as I consider them as the last French people in America. Paradoxically, when they speak French on television, we have to subtitle their words to understand them better. I wondered how they could adapt themselves in a country such as the U.S.A, which has a different language, culture and lives differently. I question as to how they can be Americans and whether they bear any semblance to the French. "Neither State, neither land, neither official identity but however an ethnic reality" so are the Cajuns. In this document, we will examine the Cajun origins and the specificities of the Cajun identity. In the end, we will see the Cajun revival and their contribution to the American identity.

Extraits

[...] The language as a bond of the Cajun identity As the Acadians lived in Louisiana, they became to be called Cajuns. But both names appoint the same people. As the Cajuns a mixed people was, from French settlers which came of all the France in these days where the language was very typical by region, they find a French language which was a mix of all the French dialects. It is funny to notice that the most important dialect was probably the poitevin one but it is difficult to say if it gave some specificities to the Cajun French. [...]

[...] So there is a revitalization of the Cajun identity through the French tong that as we have said, is an important part of their culture. The Cajun identity on daily First, we have to say that the Cajun stay not only in the bayou of Louisiana, they almost are in Texas (appreciatively 56 000) and in the rest of the U.S.A. (appreciatively 91 000). So is the Cajun identity is spill in the all country. The music and the cuisine are two important parts of the Cajun identity which are diffused in U.S.A. [...]

[...] In the Louisiana Constitution of 1921, it was forbidden to teach in French in order to anglicize this population. In 1930's and 1940's, the school in English became obligatory. Moreover, the bayous were bonded in 1935-45 by the Rural Electricity Administration and the railroad which broke the Cajun isolationism. In addition to all this factors, the Cajuns, especially after World War Two, feel ashamed by their own culture: the draftees have feel that they don't have the American culture and wanted to give their children such an education. But Cajun identity doesn't disappear insofar as. [...]

[...] From P. Griolet, Cadjins et Créoles en Louisiane, Payot p.30 From J.E. Herbert, Identifying Cajun Identity , website article From P. Griolet, Cadjins et Créoles en Louisiane, Payot p.34 From P. Griolet, Cadjins et Créoles en Louisiane, Payot p.65 From J.E. Herbert, Identifying Cajun Identity , website article From P. Griolet, Cadjins et Créoles en Louisiane, Payot p.85 “Monsieur le Président, tu vas nous m'aider à sauver la langue française en Louisiane”in acadian French. From P. [...]

[...] So we can say that the Cajun identity is not become absorbed by the American one. The government has made efforts to support the French language in Louisiana which is an important part of the Cajun identity. But the French leached in school is not the Louisianans one but a Parisians one. Maybe an end of the Louisianan French is to afford: Cajun French owns only an hundred words with many Anglicism and words from others languages such as Indian dialects or Spanish. [...]