Creole and Acadian Identities in Literature

Background

Historically, Louisiana has enjoyed a rich cultural and literary heritage. Motivated by the threat of assimilation, the people of Louisiana, most notably the Creoles and Acadians, held fast to their French and Spanish roots. In so doing, they developed unique cultural, linguistic, culinary, and religious patterns that gave them strong definition in a country that was becoming increasingly homogeneous.

There has always been an impulse to group the Acadians and Creoles together, but it is necessary to distinguish between the two societies. Finding it difficult to make a productive living in France, the Acadians, an agrarian community, immigrated to what is now known as Nova Scotia, Canada, in the early seventeenth century. Primarily a peasant class, the Acadians found little comfort in their new land, as it was mercilessly cold. Geographic isolation forced this small band of French pioneers to work together in order to survive, fostering in them a strong sense of kinship. When the English (who were in constant conflict with France), suspicious of the French heritage of the Acadians, insisted they assimilate into English society, the result was a sense of Acadian national identity that outlasted the numerous assaults upon Acadian culture. After repeated skirmishes with the British, the Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia. One literary version of the Acadian experience is American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s long narrative poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847).

Some Acadians relocated further into the Canadian interior, some to the northern United States, some to France, and some, hoping to reunite with their French countrymen, immigrated to Louisiana. Settling along the southwestern Mississippi coast, the Acadians established a unique agrarian culture based upon strong familial, linguistic, and historical ties with their native France. Over time, they, much like the Creoles, were forced to redefine certain practices in order to accommodate the unique geographical features of their new land. This is especially seen in their culinary practices, which, accordingly, incorporate those foods that are most easily grown along the Mississippi coast. More than 500,000 Acadians are estimated to be living in Louisiana, many of whom are making a concerted effort to preserve their ancestral ways.

The Creoles, unlike the Acadians, are the direct descendants of the French and Spanish immigrants who first came to New Orleans. These early immigrants were mainly aristocrats, who attempted to forge for themselves a feudal society closely resembling the one they left behind. Unlike the Acadians, the Creoles were generally merchants and plantation owners; they dictated public policy until Louisiana came under American authority in 1803. By the time Americans began settling in Louisiana, however, the Creoles had already established a solid identity and, like their Acadian brethren, were determined not to bow to the threat of assimilation. Although Creoles lost their political power, they maintained social and cultural control of the territory. As was the practice, Creole children continued to be educated in France, returning to Louisiana to marry within their class.

In addition to these two groups are the Creole people of color, brought onto the plantations from Africa and Haiti. The fusing of the African and French cultures brought about a new and distinct society, whose dialect and customs are different from those of their predecessors. In a Southern state that had more free blacks than any other, intimacy between Creole men and free black women was accepted and recognized within the community at large. Such relationships were, to a certain extent, legitimized, and the offspring of these unions took their appropriate place within the Creole hierarchy. This type of relationship is depicted in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! (1936). Both cultures have continued to flourish in South Louisiana, especially the areas of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette.

Literary Concerns

One of the most important tasks in defining identity is recognizing Creoles and Acadians as distinct groups. One should avoid the temptation to consider all Louisiana francophone societies as one. Much Creole and Acadian history is contained in oral tradition, and most recently, historians and writers alike are recognizing the importance of Creole and Acadian narratives, transcribing them and publishing collections. Although there are still an enormous number of stories to hear, much work has been done already, and several good editions have emerged.

The emphasis on protecting the Acadian and Creole experiences from extinction flourished during the Civil War, for it was during this time that the Southern identity in general became most vulnerable. One of the most important writers to take up the challenge of preserving the Creole and Acadian way of life during this time was George Washington Cable. Born and reared in New Orleans, Cable realized the rich material his world presented and wrote stories reflecting the customs and language of the Creole and Acadian people. Placing emphasis on accuracy, Cable amassed a tremendous amount of historical data (and learned French), which he carefully incorporated into his literature. The beauty and seriousness of his work forced the literary community to take notice of these societies, and a new area of study was born. His works include Old Creole Days (1879), a collection of stories, and The Grandissimes (1880).

Noted Southern author Kate Chopin relied heavily on local color for her sensitive depictions of Creole and Acadian women. The popularity of her fiction, originally published in the late nineteenth century, epitomizes the interest the literary world has taken in literature by and about Creoles and Acadians. Her works featuring Creole and Acadian characters include A Night in Acadie (1897) and The Awakening (1899).

Later Acadian and Creole Literature

While literature focusing on Cajun and Creole identities had become less common by the late twentieth century, as these groups became more assimilated into the American mainstream, some writers still addressed the unique aspects of francophone culture in Louisiana. Novelist Chris Segura addressed the conflict between pressure to Americanize and pride in one's Cajun cultural heritage in Marshland Trinity (1997), and Albert Belisle Davis also dealt with these themes in novels and poems published in the 1980s. Some Cajun authors asserted their distinct cultural identity by writing in Cajun French; works in this dialect include Zachary Richard and Jean Arceneaux's poetry collection Cris sur le bayou (1980); Richard Guidry's collection of monologues C'est p'us pareil (1982); and Antoine Bourque's short-story collection Trois saisons (1988). Literature dealing with Creole identity was less common, but some such works were published, including Shirley Ann Grau's The Hard Blue Sky (1958). Black Louisianan author Ernest Gaines explored the history of Creole people in his first novel, Catherine Carmier (1964), and examined the tensions between Cajuns and their African American neighbors in A Gathering of Old Men (1983).

In the twenty-first century, black Creole author Jesmyn Ward has written a number of novels about black Creole families in Mississippi near the border with Louisiana; two of these, Salvage the Bones (2011) and Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017), won the National Book Award for Fiction.

Bibliography

Brasseaux, Carl A. The Founding of New Acadia: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765-1803. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1987.

Brown, Dorothy H., and Barbara C. Ewell, eds. Louisiana Women Writers: New Essays and a Comprehensive Bibliography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992.

Cable, George W. Creoles and Cajuns: Stories of Old Louisiana, by George W. Cable. Edited by Arlin Turner. Gloucester, Mass.: P. Smith, 1965.

Fertel, Rien. Imagining the Creole City: The Rise of Literary Culture in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans. Louisiana State UP, 2014.

Hebert-Leiter, Maria. Becoming Cajun, Becoming American: The Acadian in American Literature from Longfellow to James Lee Burke. Louisiana State UP, 2009.

Saucier, Corrine L., trans. Folk Tales from French Louisiana. New York: Exposition Press, 1962.

Turner, Arlin, ed. Critical Essays on George W. Cable. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980.

Woods, Frances J. Marginality and Identity: A Colored Creole Family Through Ten Generations. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972.