Disenchanting Les Bons Temps

Stivale Charles J. Stivale

Description

The expression laissez les bons temps rouler-"let the good times roll"-conveys the sense of exuberance and good times associated with southern Louisiana's vibrant cultural milieu. Yet, for Cajuns, descendants of French settlers exiled from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the mid-eighteenth century, this sense of celebration has always been mixed with sorrow. By focusing on Cajun music and dance and the ways they convey the dual experiences of joy and pain, Disenchanting Les Bons Temps illuminates the complexities of Cajun culture. Charles J. Stivale shows how vexed issues of cultural identity and authenticity are negotiated through the rich expressions of emotion, sensation, sound, and movement in Cajun music and dance.Stivale combines his personal knowledge and love of Cajun music and dance with the theoretical insights of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari to consider representations of things Cajun. He examines the themes expressed within the lyrics of the Cajun musical repertoire and reflects on the ways Cajun cultural practices are portrayed in different genres including feature films, documentaries, and instructional dance videos. He analyzes the dynamic exchanges between musicians, dancers, and spectators at such venues as bars and music festivals. He also considers a number of thorny socio-political issues underlying Cajun culture, including racial tensions and linguistic isolation. At the same time, he describes various efforts by contemporary musicians and their fans to transcend the limitations of cultural stereotypes and social exclusion.Disenchanting Les Bons Temps will appeal to those interested in Cajun culture, issues of race and ethnicity, music and dance, and the intersection of French and Francophone studies with Anglo and American cultural studies.

Sujets

• Luisiana
• Cultural studies
• Louisiana

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 19 novembre 2002
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822384823
• Langue: English

Extrait

D I S E N C H A N T I N G

L E S

B O N S T E M P S

Post-Contemporary Interventions

Series Editors:

Stanley Fish and Fredric Jameson

D I S E N C H A N T I N G

L E S

B O N S T E M P S

Identity and Authenticity in Cajun Music and Dance

Charles J. Stivale

Duke University Press

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂

Durham and London 2003

∫2003 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper$ Typeset in Scala by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

appear on the last printed page of this book.

‘‘C’était la valse après jouer . . .’’

To Marian, and to all those who did not make it along the way, in death and in life

C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: ‘‘The Good Times Are Killing Me’’ 1

1

Becoming-Cajun 9

2 (Geo)graphies of(Dé)paysement: Dislocation and Unsettling in the Cajun Music Repertoire 40

3

‘‘J’ai Été au Bal’’: Cajun Sights and Sounds 73

4 Feeling the Event: Spaces of A√ects and the Cajun Dance Arena 110

5

DisenchantingLes Bons Temps132

6Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler, or, Death and Life in the Cajun Dance Arena 158

Notes 169

Works Cited 193

Index 211

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Even when you think you’re writing on your own, you’re always doing it with someone else you can’t always name.—Gilles Deleuze,Negotiations

This book is made up of many steps—dance steps, music steps, and steps of research, composition, and editing. Although Gilles Deleuze is no doubt correct that one cannot always name those with whom one writes, I can at least attempt to thank the many individuals who have helped me through these steps. For the dance steps, I owe a debt of gratitude and love to Lezlie Hart Stivale, who said yes to stepping out and to a lot more besides; to Rand Speyrer for his e√orts on behalf of Cajun dance, music, and culture; to Thérèse Puyau for showing me how to follow so that I could lead; and to our friends in Erath, Louisiana, for their friendship, then and now. I also want to acknowledge my great a√ection for the regular dancers in the many di√erent venues that I have frequented in New Orleans, Lafayette, and Ann Arbor, especially the Sunday afternoon crowd at Tipitina’s. For the music steps, there is simply not enough space to thank the many musicians who have graced us with their creativity. For making a special di√erence, I thank Bruce Daigrepont, Wayne Toups, Ann Savoy, Marc Savoy, Michael Doucet, Zachary Richard, Steve Riley, David Greely, Christine Balfa, and Dirk Powell, and the scores of musicians, sung and unsung, who inspired these musicians on their creative paths.