Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale
Journal issue | 49 | 2015
Research Article | About Some Old Creole Tenets: Losses, Forgetfulness, Disappearance, Reappeareance, Findings
About Some Old Creole Tenets: Losses, Forgetfulness, Disappearance, Reappeareance, Findings
Abstract
In the wide field of postcolonial studies, there exist related or similar areas whose stories are nevertheless very different, if not indeed opposed. This is the case of catechisms in Romance languages (or of Romance origin), outcomes of European colonization. In particular, contradictions between the history of catechisms from Hispanic-American colonization and the catechisms produced by French colonization, in America and elsewhere. The latter appear a century and a half after the Spanish texts, and exhibit completely distinct characteristics: different periods, settings, actors, and especially recipients. I set out to recount the often adventurous history of the oldest catechisms in the French colonies, or ex-colonies, of the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. Written in Creole or sometimes other indigenous languages, they are precious linguistic records. Compiled in the colonies, but not always published, these texts are often forgotten, lost, misplaced, resurfaced, discovered.
Published Sept. 1, 2015 | Language: fr
Keywords Catechisms • French colonies • Creole languages • Caribbean and Indian Ocean
Copyright © 2015 Alessandro Costantini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/2385-3034/AnnOc-49-15-4
