Karen Daniel

Assimilation and the Abandonment
of the French Language in Louisiana

            Raised by parents of Cajun descent, I have long been interested in Cajun culture and history and, in fact, wrote my first college research paper on the forced emigration and subsequent enslavement of, and discrimination against, the Cajun people (Le Grand Degrangement).  As I grew older and spent more time in Louisiana with my extended family, I became aware of certain aspects of the history of the people of that area that place them, in terms of this classes objectives, in both the immigrant and the minority classifications.  While the Cajun people are strongly assimilated into the dominant culture of Louisiana, their period of assimilation was much longer than that of the model immigrant due in large part to the fact that they resisted mainstream assimilation and attempted to hold onto the traditions and language of their homeland. While residing in the United States for many generations, the Cajun people were generally isolated from dominant society and continued to speak French until the 1900’s when there were attempts made by the government and the dominant culture to wipe out their language by making it illegal to speak French in public schools.  In the context of our classroom discussions I have begun to question if, how, and to what extent the forced elimination of their language has contributed to their degree of assimilation, and how, as an ethnic group they feel about this relatively recent development. 

            There is a Cajun singer by the name of Zachary Richard (pronounced Reeshard) that holds icon status in the rich cultural atmosphere of Southern Louisiana.  Singing primarily about the culture of the Cajun people, he sings a song entitled “No French No More” (Lyrics) that is a poignant story of the forced loss of the French language through the public education system.  The story Richard tells links the issues faced by the Cajuns with those faced by the Mexican Americans in that they were already in Louisiana when it was purchased by the US and had established that area as French speaking.  However, unlike the majority of Mexican Americans, the Cajun people were in control of their own schools and government institutions for a long time afterwards, and it was not until later that the US would attempt to, and succeed in, wiping out their language base. 

            Much to my surprise, rather than having a difficult time finding information and research on the topic of the loss of Cajun French (wikipedia), there is so much information that I became lost in all of it, although, not surprisingly a great many of the web sites are published in French.  Generally the research discusses two separate aspects of the Cajun French language issue, the first of these being the rationale behind giving up the French language, mainly due the necessity of assimilation into Anglo-American culture.  According to The Center for Cultural and Eco-tourism (ccet), based at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, “as their children were humiliated and punished in schools for speaking the language of their ancestors, Cajuns and black Creoles alike were convinced that the French dialects they spoke were cultural, social, political and economic liabilities.”  Although is website does not specifically discuss laws forbidding the use of French in public schools, many sites do, and often assert that this was actually an attempt to suppress the entire Cajun culture.  Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun) talks about sociologists that believe that the language was directly related to social class, with the decedents of the French speaking people becoming the working class, and those who chose to assimilate and speak only English becoming the members of the higher socio-economic classes.  Within the higher economic classes, even those families who encouraged bilingualism in their children discouraged the use of Cajun French, instead encouraging them to learn the more academic formal French spoken in France and other European countries.  On his website (About Being Cajun) Terry Eymard discusses the perception by the outside dominant culture that Cajuns were illiterate as they could not speak English, leading to the word Cajun being considered a slur, which in turn led to a loss of pride in their heritage and culture. 

            The second issue that is addressed in the research I did is the idea of the regeneration of the Cajun culture, and this ethnic group’s attempts to retain their rich and colorful heritage.  Most prominently mentioned are the efforts of a group titled Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODIFIL), developed during what came to be known as the Louisiana French renaissance movement (ccet).  According to their website, their primary philosophy is to “treasure our past to enrich our future by affirming our Franchophone (the word francophone refers to people who speak French or areas or countries where French is the principal language or one of the principal languages spoken) identity through education (Goal I), community outreach (Goal II) and international exchanges (Goal III).  Interestingly, there is a general feeling that part of the interest in the regeneration of the Cajun French culture is an increased interest in the music of that ethnic group (Cajun French).  Much like my own experience with the music of Zachary Richard, the lyrics sung by older generations can inspire younger generations to develop an interest in, and pride for, their cultural history.  What was once seen as a detrimental thing (being Cajun) has now reached an almost nostalgic status, and the general feeling is that the pendulum has swung to the point of many people claiming Cajun heritage who, in fact, are not of Cajun descent (Heartland Cajun History).  I am sure this is a bittersweet irony for the generation that suffered through the humiliation of being an illiterate Cajun years ago. 

            While in many cases assimilation through abandoning their home language was not absolutely forced upon the Cajuns, it is easy to see why families with social status to maintain would have chosen to separate their children from their cultural heritage.  Assimilating into the Anglo-dominant culture gave their children a better chance at an economically secure future.    In this way the Cajun narrative resembles that of immigrants to this country who choose to assimilate for economic or religious gain.  However, in many ways the people of Southern Louisiana more closely resemble the minority narratives we have discussed in that they were often given little choice about their participation in dominant culture.  From a more personal perspective, I find it interesting that while it was the upper and middle classes that first abandoned their Cajun French heritage, it is those same classes that are in a large part responsible for the interest in, and regeneration of, this linguistic resource.  Since a great many upper and middle class students in Louisiana attend private (often Catholic) schools, they are often required to learn both French and Latin as part of their regular curriculum.  This creates an interesting paradox as, while social and economic status is often linked to the decline in the French language, it is also linked to its resurgence.   It is almost as if the Cajuns gave up their native language long enough to fully assimilate and are now choosing to regain some of the rich cultural traditions that they were compelled to abandon.  There is some question as to how successful the regeneration of Cajun French will be and it will be interesting to see how it develops as today’s younger generation matures and pursues their interests in it.   

http://www.actioncadienne.org/

http://www.cajunradio.org/language.html

http://www.zacharyrichard.com/multimedia.html

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The Cajun Language

Cajun French at LSU

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