Creolization in the French-Speaking Community

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     In the textbook," Tour de Force" there are a few examples of Creolization in the French speaking community of the Caribbean. In this blog post we will look into two of these examples for the textbook. 

    One of the first examples is Zouk. Zouk is a music style that results from combining Haitian compas music and Beguine from Martinique. The textbook states that Zouk is an," amalgamation of a wide variety of local and imported musical styles." The picture below is an image of the French band Kassav'. Who specializes in Zouk music. 

 

No.1 The French Caribbean, Zouk music, and Kassav. (n.d.). CaribbeanSydney . Retrieved from https://caribbeansydney.com.au/the-french-caribbean-zouk-music-and-kassav/.

YouTube. (2020). YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOdULGv4i_w.

    I just love this video. This is because as someone who didn't know what Zouk music is this video explained it to me with just the songs. This video is a compilation of different Zouk songs. Even though most of the lyrics are in French, the beats and music are incredible. 

    Another example of Creolization from the textbook in French Speaking Caribbean is Haitian Meringue. "A creolized version of the contredanse music of the European ballrooms." this is what the textbook describes the Haitian meringue as. It evolved from the combination of enslaved Africans dance music and contredanse. Below is an image from Google Art & Culture Website showing us the set up and dress code for the Haitian Meringue. 

Haiti Film Institute. (n.d.). Cultural Integration Through Music and Dance. Retrieved from https://artsandculture.google.com/story/cultural-integration-through-music-and-dance/lgUR1RVO6lrT_w.

YouTube. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClX8YC3srn8

    This video is from a Haitian Meringue Competition. I picked this video due to the good quality and the fact that these dancers are professional. This music is nice and calming and they are dancing like they are air, so nice and smooth. 

            The last example of Creolization in the French -Speaking Caribbean is the language of Haitian Creole. This language is a result of mixing African, Arawak, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and Taino Languages and also based on 18th century French. 

Learn Haitian Creole: Subject pronouns & the verb "se" - Aprann Anglè: Pwonon sijè yo & vèb "to be". (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ACYmeqSBk.

I chose this video because it explains exactly what Haitian Creole is and where and why was it created.  It also gives examples of the similar words in the parent languages. 

YouTube. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-077ZesjNOk.

I really hoped you enjoyed this post. See you next time!

References

Gangelhoff, C., & Legrand, C. (2019). Tour de force: A musical journey of the Caribbean. Sound Caribbean.

Haiti Film Institute. (n.d.). Cultural Integration Through Music and Dance. Retrieved from https://artsandculture.google.com/story/cultural-integration-through-music-and-dance/lgUR1RVO6lrT_w. 

Learn Haitian Creole: Subject pronouns & the verb "se" - Aprann Anglè: Pwonon sijè yo & vèb "to be". (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ACYmeqSBk.

No.1 The French Caribbean, Zouk music, and Kassav. (n.d.). CaribbeanSydney . Retrieved from https://caribbeansydney.com.au/the-french-caribbean-zouk-music-and-kassav/.

YouTube. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-077ZesjNOk.

YouTube. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClX8YC3srn8.

YouTube. (2020). YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOdULGv4i_w.