This study presents in-depth analyses of folktales from the oral
tradition of French and Creole Louisiana. The region’s folklore is a unique
tradition formed from the confluence of diverse elements following a number of
significant population movements to Louisiana. The French and Spanish
colonization, the slave trade, the Acadian deportation, and the Saint-Domingue
Revolution are discussed in some detail. Through comparative analyses of a
corpus of Louisiana folktales and their analogues from Acadia, France, and West
Africa, my research demonstrates how motifs, characters, and moral values have
been adapted over time to the sociocultural context of Louisiana. Paul
Zumthor’s theory of false reiterability is employed to explain these mutations
in oral narrative. I suggest that several instances of cultural trauma –
slavery, the Grand dérangement, and linguistic inferiority resulting from
English-only education - resulted in a cultural renegotiation among
Louisiana’s French and Creole communities that is reflected in the region’s
oral tradition. The three principal chapters each examine an important figure of Louisiana’s
folklore: the animal trickster, the fool (Jean-le-Sot), and the Master Thief. A
general tendency of increased prestige associated with the trickster figure can
be observed in Louisiana’s folklore. Moreover, Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of
the carnivalesque is used to explain the subversion of established power
structure accomplished by the trickster. By framing Louisiana as a space of
cultural exchange and creolization, this study places the region in a larger
context of the francophone world, including Africa, the Caribbean, and the
French Atlantic. / 1 / Nathan J. Rabalais
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_45926 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Contributors | Rabalais, Nathan J. (author), Poe, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor), School of Liberal Arts French and Italian (Degree granting institution) |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | electronic |
| Rights | No embargo |
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