Research Catalog

Disenchanting les bons temps : identity and authenticity in Cajun music and dance

Title
Disenchanting les bons temps : identity and authenticity in Cajun music and dance / Charles J. Stivale.
Author
Stivale, Charles J.
Publication
Durham : Duke University Press, 2003.

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TextUse in library ML3560.C25 S75 2003Off-site

Details

Description
xii, 217 pages; 25 cm
Summary
  • 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, 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. Book jacket.
Series Statement
Post-contemporary interventions
Uniform Title
Post-contemporary interventions.
Subject
  • Cajun music > Louisiana > History and criticism
  • Folk dancing, Cajun > Louisiana
  • Cajuns > Louisiana > Social life and customs
  • Cajun music
  • Cajuns > Social life and customs
  • Folk dancing, Cajun
  • Cajun-Music
  • Cajun
  • Geschichte
  • Volkstanz
  • Cajuns
  • Volksdansen
  • Folkmuziek
  • Louisiana
Genre/Form
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. [193]-209) and index.
Contents
Becoming-Cajun -- (Geo)graphies of (dé)paysement : dislocation and unsettling in the Cajun music repertoire -- "J'ai été au bal" : Cajun sights and sounds -- Feeling the event : spaces of affects and the Cajun dance arena -- Disenchanting les bons temps -- Laissez le bons temps rouler, or, death and life in the cajun dance arena.
ISBN
  • 0822330334
  • 9780822330332
  • 0822330202
  • 9780822330202
LCCN
2002006463
OCLC
  • ocm49699012
  • 49699012
  • SCSB-14664636
Owning Institutions
Princeton University Library