Cajun France And The French Culture

1443 Words3 Pages

French explorers first put their steaks into the ground more than a quarter of a century ago. The area that the French chose to build their lives on eventually became Louisiana. Although time has passed, the French influence continues to serve as a significant part of the unique culture of Louisiana ("How The French Influence Is Still Felt In Louisiana Today"). Noticeable areas of French influence include, but are not limited to: cuisine, music, and architecture. However, the continuation of the French language and dialects over the years appears to be the most noteworthy influence that French has had on Louisiana ("How The French Influence Is Still Felt In Louisiana Today").
The unique type of language found exclusively in Louisiana is referred to as Louisiana French. This language is found mainly in southern parts of Louisiana. Louisiana French breaks off into two other subcategories: Cajun French, and Louisiana Creole ("French", 2012). These two subgroups may share the French language, but it is important to recognize and understand the differences between the two. Along with their origins, Cajun French and Louisiana Creole also take diverse aspects of the French language, in order to form their own exclusive version ("French").
The larger of the two subgroups, Cajun French, is more properly known in today’s society as Louisiana French. Cajuns are an ethic group that is comprised of the Acadian exiles. The Acadians are a group of French speaking people who travelled from Canada to Louisiana in the late eighteenth century. The reason they wore forced to leave Acadia is because of the British Conquest. The language of the Acadians originated from the French of seventeenth century France. Once they arrived and settl...

... middle of paper ...

...ve.
No matter what side of the spectrum a person may fall on, the history of the French language in Louisiana runs deep. It was introduced to this land in the eighteenth century as Europeans emigrated from France and the Acadian refugees ventured from Canada. French was Louisiana’s language. As mentioned earlier, efforts are being made to preserve the general French language and background of Louisiana ("Parlez-Vous? Some Louisiana Pupils Being Immersed in French Instruction", 2011). Louisiana currently has thirty schools that offer the French immersion program. CODOFIL is working diligently to increase the amount of schools that offer French immersion programs. It is crucial that these programs be implemented in order to maintain a unique and special characteristic of Louisiana ("Parlez-Vous? Some Louisiana Pupils Being Immersed in French Instruction").

Show More
Related

  • BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

    470 Words  | 1 Pages

    The United States acquired the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, thereby gaining control of the Mississippi River, and its watershed at the golf of Mexico. The U.S. government realized how important this was and its potential of becoming a great trading post. By 1812 this area called New Orleans grew as expected in size and importance. In peace it was a commercial outlet and trading center of the western United States.

    Read More

  • W. J. Eccles: France In America

    1659 Words  | 4 Pages

    France has had a presence in North America since long before the birth of the United States. Most American history looks back at France's presence on the continent largely from the British side of events that occurred. W. J. Eccles' France In America introduces readers to French history in North America drawing largely from the french side of events. Eccles begins the book around the year 1500 with early french exploration and the events that eventually lead to colonization. France In America details the events that took place in France and french colonies from colonial beginnings to the years following the American Revolution.

    Read More

  • The Cajun and Creole Culture of Lousiana

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gervel, David. "Island Magazine Discover the Creole Culture around the World : Louisiana Creole Culture & Voodoo Tradition." Island Magazine Discover the Creole Culture around the World : Louisiana Creole Culture & Voodoo Tradition. N.p., 26 Aug. 2012. 30 Apr. 2014. Web.

    Read More

  • Cajun Culture

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nous sommes Acadiens. (We are Acadians.) Some outsiders see us as a quaint, virtuous people, spending a great deal of time singing, dancing, praying, and visiting? (Conrad, 1978, p.14). Others see us as independent and unsophisticated. We see ourselves as fun-loving, carefree, happy, proud people who have a great love for our culture. The Acadians were French settlers of eastern Canada who were exiled from their land in the 1750?s. The Acadians are known to have settled in the southern bayou lands of Louisiana around that time. The Acadiana people acquired their nickname, ?Cajuns,? from those people who could not pronounce Acadians correctly. Due to the opinion that Cajuns were ?different?, they lived close together and became isolated from others in Louisiana. They have since developed their own distinct characteristics which make them unique and unlike no others in the bayou state. Family, music, housing, food, marriages, and ?traiteurs? were all a part of the simple but challenging lifestyle of the Cajuns.

    Read More

  • Prokofiev's Classical Symphony Essay

    439 Words  | 1 Pages

    Though the two differed in many ways, the were both chock full of musicality. A key difference between the two is the style of music they both held. New Orleans was a city of a multitude of musical styles, while Vienna remained a well known city for classical music. New Orleans streets would fill with parades and musical performs all over the city. As the documentary mentioned, after Louisiana became American controlled, an influx of newly freed African Americans began calling New Orleans their home. This brought on new styles of African and Caribbean music in addition to spiritual songs from the south. These new styles were not accepted by with upper class of New Orleans. White descendants of the French and Spanish who lived in New Orleans adopted the term “Creole” in order to distinguish themselves from the influx of new American’s for whom they disdained. Creole’s were classically trained and participated in local orchestras in New Orleans, lending to the multitude of musical styles of the city. Creoles soon became second class citizens along with blacks, and thus a new music was born. The influence of the Creoles classically trained music, along with the multitude of different styles, created a music of freedom and liberty. Together African Americans and creoles transformed music as it was known, creating jazz, a quintessential

    Read More

  • Cajun Music Essay

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cajun music has a folk-like beat that places the accordion at the center of the rhythm. Cajun music originated from the United States of America but more specifically, the state of Louisiana. This music came to Louisiana through the French-speaking immigrants that settled there. These immigrants once called the Acadians, or Cajuns, found a new home in Louisiana after being expelled from Nova Scotia (Ancelet). Due to their harsh exile from Nova Scotia, much of Cajun music describes death and desperation. Soon after arriving in Louisiana, the Cajuns began incorporating the sounds of the surrounding cultures into their music (Edmondson, 173). Acculturation contributed greatly to the origin and development of Cajun music due to its borrowing of sounds and instruments from a variety of different cultures. They started incorporating the Native American’s singing style as well as the Spanish guitar into their own original music (Ancelet). This created the unique sounds of Cajun music that we know and listen to today. Paired with their music, the Cajun culture also created their own unique Cajun dance style. Their dances incorporated waltzes, and

    Read More

  • The Impact Of The Louisiana Purchase

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sacher, John M. "Louisiana." Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. Ed. Paul Finkelman. Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2006. 305-307. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

    Read More

  • The Background Of Thomas Jefferson And The Louisiana Purchase

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    The backdrop of Louisiana acquisition accompanied with the advent of the 17th century. As France scrutinized the Mississippi river rambling adjustment of the region took place. As the 18th century advanced France overcame the existing day United Sates of America than any other region of the European country (U.S., 2016). All the while the French and Indian War France abandon French Louisiana, Mississippi river of Spain and with advancing time they handed over the existing ownership to the Britain. The Louisiana acquisition was originally the deal of land between two enormous countries United States of America and France. In 1803, the accord of and took place between both the countries. The deal

    Read More

  • Thomas Jefferson's Moral Dilemmas

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was a land deal between the United States of America and France, in which the young American Republic acquired over 800,000 square miles of land at four cents

    Read More

  • Louisiana Purchase: Expanding and Reshaping America

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Louisiana Territory was originally claimed for France by the explorer Rene- Robert Cavelier La Salle in 1682 (Nelson). French King Louis XV gave the territory to his cousin Charles III of Spain in 1762 after the defeat of the French in the French and Indian War. This transition was to ensure that the British would not

    Read More

  • Purchase Of The Louisiana Purchase

    2611 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States from France in 1803. This purchase encompassed present day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska as well as large portions of Texas, New Mexico,

    Read More

  • The Causes Of The Louisiana Purchase

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Louisiana Purchase happened in 1803 and it was exactly what it is called. The United States of America purchase the Louisiana territory from France. The U.S. gave France about 50 million dollars for the Louisiana territory. The land purchased contained all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; parts of Minnesota that were west of the Mississippi River; most of North Dakota; most of South Dakota; northeastern New Mexico; northern Texas; the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orleans; and small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

    Read More

  • ebonics

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...uite different and that the conditions necessary for the emergence of a fully-fledged creole language were never met in the US. These scholars have shown on a number of occasions that what look like distinctive features of AAVE today actually have a precedent in various varieties of English spoken in Great Britain and the Southern United States. It seems reasonable to suggest that both views are partially correct and that AAVE developed to some extent through restructuring while it also inherited many of its today distinctive features from older varieties of English, which were once widely spoken.

    Read More

  • When English Is Not a Choice: A Social Conflict Analysis of the English-Only Movement

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    The earliest English-only movement dates back to 1807, when Louisiana adopted English as its official language in its constitution. In 1980, Dade County, Flori...

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin and Local Color

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    This Creole society was united in its Catholicism, and the French language and therefore became a "cultural subgroup which had little in common with, [and] was often in conflict with, Anglo-American society" (Walker, 97). This region of Louisiana was referred to as a "Southern Babylon" (Walker, 97). And it was this backdrop of society that Chopin used in her work which earned her the label of being a local-colorist.

    Read More

More about Cajun France And The French Culture

Open Document