“Çété méné endan Lalwizyann”: The role of Haiti in representations of Louisiana Creole language and identity

Abstract

Misconceptions about the ethnolinguistic relationship between Haiti and Louisiana persist to the present. Central to this debate is whether Louisiana Creole (LC) is a variety of French, an independent language, or a variant of the better-known and more widely spoken Haitian Creole (HC). In this paper, I present data from residents of Louisiana and the greater Gulf South who invoke Haiti in reference to who and what are Creoles. Haiti surfaces in two primary ways: as a site of origin and authentication or as a site of difference and denaturalization. Haiti's indexical value and authenticating potential vary according to a speaker's ethnolinguistic identity. These complexities are particularly important for understanding the history and trajectory of the current reclamation movement for the Louisiana Creole language (aka “Kouri-Vini”).