Cajun and Creole Folktales: The French Oral Tradition of South Louisiana

by Barry Jean Ancelet

This teeming compendium of tales assembles and classifies the abundant lore and storytelling prevalent in the French culture of southern Louisiana. This is the largest, most diverse, and best annotated collection of French-language tales ever published in the United States. Side by side are dual-language retellings―the Cajun French and its English translation―along with insightful commentaries.

This volume reveals the long and lively heritage of the Louisiana folktale among French Creoles and Cajuns and shows how tale-telling in Louisiana through the years has remained vigorous and constantly changing. Some of the best storytellers of the present day are highlighted in biographical sketches and are identified by some of their best tales. Their repertory includes animal stories, magic stories, jokes, tall tales, Pascal (improvised) stories, and legendary tales―all of them colorful examples of Louisiana narrative at its best.

Though greatly transformed since the French arrived on southern soil, the French oral tradition is alive and flourishing today. It is even more complex and varied than has been shown in previous studies, for revealed here are African influences as well as others that have been filtered from America's multicultural mainstream.

Genres: Folklore, Fiction, Folk Tales, Short Stories

300 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

Reviews

[Andy Mirs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more suited to the folklorist or student of folklore than to casual reading. The stories are presented in the original Cajun or Creole French with a side by side English translation. The author has classified the tales using the Aarne/Thompson tale type index (plus Baughman, Klipple & others), allowing easy comparison to similar tales. The tales are word for word transcriptions as the storyteller originally delivered them, so they are often marred by imperfections (like explaining the joke after the punchline). But it is a fine collection, divided into groups of Animal Tales, Magic Tales, Jokes, Lies and Tall Tales, Pascal Stories, Legendary Stories and Historical Tales. My favorites were the Jokes, Lies and Tall Tales, Pascal Stories and Legends. The Pascal Stories are probably the most unique feature of the book, an impromptu tall tale where the storyteller bounces new ideas off of comments made by the audience, with an aim to never repeat a performance. Fans of Compere Lapin (AKA Br'er Rabbit) will appreciate the Animal Tales. This book also has a great bibliography for further reading.

(Another book I can recommend in the same genre is Cajun Folktales by J.J. Reneaux from August House publishing. That book has only stories, with no technical analyses.)

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I consulted this wonderful collection during my research on Cajun dance and music culture.

[Hope Phelps · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If you need directions, maybe you've got no business going there at all."

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of stories, but I think the author/collector's notes and comments fill up more of this book than the stories do.

[Alisha Helton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of work and care Ancelet put into this book is inspiring. I have a whole new fascination with local folklore and folktales after reading this. It makes me want to collect them myself.