Kwéyòl in Postcolonial Saint Lucia: Globalization, language planning, and national development

Description

Can historically marginalized, threatened languages be saved in the contemporary global era? In relation to the wider postcolonial world, especially the Caribbean, this book focuses on efforts to preserve and promote Lesser Antillean French Creole Kweyol as the national language of Saint Lucia and on the legacy of colonialism and impact of globalization, with which English has become the universal lingua franca, as mitigating factors undermining these efforts. It deals specifically with language planning for democratization and government; literacy, the schools and higher education; and the mass media. It also examines changes in the status of and attitudes toward Kweyol, English and French since national independence and presents language planning implications from these changes and steps already undertaken to elevate Kweyol. The book offers new insight into globalization and its impact on linguistic pluralism, language planning, national development, Creole languages, and cultural identity in the Caribbean. Kwéyòl in Postcolonial Saint Lucia Editorial page Title page LCC data Table of contents Preface 1 Introduction 1.1 Saint Lucia 1.2 Other Caribbean territories 1.3 Globalization 1.3.1 A global Lingua Franca 1.3.2 Regional globalization and common markets 1.3.3 Global cultural exchange 1.3.4 The emergence of global culture 1.3.5 The cross-border movement of people 1.3.6 Global pan-cultural cooperation 1.3.7 The re-affirmation of national and local cultural identities 1.3.8 Urbanization 1.4 Language planning 1.5 National development 1.5.1 Language planning and the economy 1.5.2 Language planning and the provision of social goods 1.5.3 Language planning and cultural transformation and integration 1.6 The unique status of Creole languages 2 Colonial background 2.1 European colonialism in the Caribbean 2.1.1 African slavery 2.1.2 Emancipation and the European civilizational project 2.1.3 Surviving African cultural traits and linguistic influence 2.2 Saint Lucia’s earliest colonial history 2.3 The birth of Saint Lucian Afro-French, Creole culture 2.3.1 African component in Saint Lucia’s colonial linguistic heritage 2.3.2 Coexistence of French and Kwéyòl under the French 2.3.3 Early Creole aspects of religion 2.3.4 The impact of the French Revolution 2.4 The pre-emancipation British colonial era 2.4.1 Persistence of French language and culture 2.4.2 Inroads by the English language and British culture 2.4.3 Early multicultural, multilingual experience 2.5 Emancipation and the advent of British civilization 2.5.1 The stigmatization of Kwéyòl 2.5.2 English-only education 2.5.3 The abolition of French and continued links with Martinique 2.5.4 Labor shortage and the influx of English-speaking migrants to Castries 2.6 The early twentieth century 2.6.1 The role of the schools in spreading English 2.6.2 Early urban-rural sociolinguistic divide 2.6.3 Gains in the knowledge of English 2.7 The post-World War II, pre-independence era 2.7.1 Overt official hostility toward Kwéyòl 2.7.2 Improvements in education, transportation, and communications 2.7.3 Early demographic ties with the English-speaking world 2.7.4 Social stratification and the demise of Kwéyòl 3 Kwéyòl cultural nationalism 3.1 Global trend of decolonization 3.1.1 Asia 3.1.2 Africa 3.1.3 The Caribbean 3.2 The beginnings of Saint Lucian Creole nationalism 3.2.1 Early public affirmation of Kwéyòl 3.2.2 Liberation theology and the organization of pro-Kwéyòl activity 3.3 The Folk Research Centre 3.3.1 The influence of external ideas on FRC founders 3.3.2 The expansion of the FRC mission 3.3.3 Focus on the cultivation of Saint Lucian cultural identity 3.3.4 Organizational maturation 3.3.5 Advocacy vis-à-vis the government 3.3.6 A widening, enduring mission 3.3.7 FRC member visions 3.4 Jounen Kwéyòl 3.4.1 Groundwork to promote Kwéyòl and valorize Afro-French, Creole culture 3.4.2 Saint Lucia’s most popular national holiday 3.4.3 Creole Heritage Month 3.4.4 Importance for attitudinal change 4 An Anglophone country in an English-speaking world 4.1 An English-speaking global community 4.2 Saint Lucia: A British-modeled, English-speaking country 4.3 Regional integration 4.3.1 CARICOM and OECS 4.3.2 Intra-Caribbean migration 4.3.3 Educational exchange 4.3.4 Music and regional identity 4.4 Saint Lucia and the wider English-speaking world 4.4.1 The United Kingdom 4.4.2 The Commonwealth 4.4.3 Canada 4.4.4 The United States of America 4.5 Urbanization 4.5.1 The collapse of the banana industry and rural-to-urban migration 4.5.2 The primacy of Castries 4.5.3 Greater Castries opportunities, rural district want and poverty 5 The Francophonie and Créolophonie 5.1 The Francophonie 5.1.1 The Francophone Summits 5.1.2 Saint Lucia’s participation in the Francophonie 5.1.3 The pluricentric nature of French in the contemporary global era 5.2 The global Créolophonie 5.3 Cultural nationalism in the Créolophonie 5.3.1 Haiti 5.3.2 Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana 5.3.3 Réunion, Mauritius, and the Seychelles 5.3.4 Dominica 5.4 The Créolophonie as pan-cultural movement 5.4.1 The Comité international des études créoles (CIEC) 5.4.2 The creation of Bannzil Kréyòl 5.4.3 The dissolution of Bannzil Kréyòl 5.4.4 French Creole music 5.5 Saint Lucia and the Créolophonie 5.5.1 The development of a Kwéyòl orthography 5.5.2 Patois-to-Kwéyòl name change 5.5.3 The conception of Jounen Kwéyòl 5.6 The Créolophonie as inscribed within the Francophonie 5.7 Cooperation between Saint Lucia and Martinique 6 Government and democracy 6.1 Postcolonial global trends 6.1.1 Asia 6.1.2 Africa 6.1.3 The Caribbean 6.2 Saint Lucia’s late pre-independence years 6.3 Early government-backed Kwéyòl language planning initiatives 6.3.1 Deliberate attempts to tackle anti-Kwéyòl bias 6.3.2 The National Consultation on Education 6.3.3 MOKWEYOL 6.3.4 Failure to institutionalize Kwéyòl-friendly language planning gains 6.4 The conservative years 6.4.1 Changing political status of Kwéyòl 6.4.2 Governmental support of Kwéyòl and the FRC 6.5 Cultural nationalist views on Kwéyòl in the government 6.5.1 Language and democracy 6.5.2 Full societal bilingualism 6.6 The return of active governmental backing of Kwéyòl 6.6.1 Semi-officialization of Kwéyòl 6.6.2 Greater visible government support 6.6.3 Influence of pro-Kwéyòl cultural nationalist ideas 6.6.4 The return of the UWP 6.7 Saint Lucian attitudes toward governmental use of Kwéyòl 7 Literacy, the schools, and higher education 7.1 Global postcolonial trends 7.1.1 Asia 7.1.2 Africa 7.1.3 The Caribbean 7.2 Kwéyòl corpus planning gains 7.2.1 Kwéyòl dictionaries 7.2.2 Kwéyòl grammars 7.2.3 Written materials in Kwéyòl 7.3 Literacy 7.4 The schools 7.4.1 Early attempts to formalize Kwéyòl as a language of instruction 7.4.2 Greater tolerance of Kwéyòl on school grounds 7.4.3 Renewed efforts to promote Kwéyòl as an instructional language 7.4.4 The pro-Kwéyòl activists 7.4.5 Experimental usage of Kwéyòl in the schools 7.5 Saint Lucian attitudes toward the use of Kwéyòl in the schools 7.6 Challenges to expanding the use of Kwéyòl in the schools 7.7 Higher education 8 The mass media 8.1 Global postcolonial trends 8.1.1 Asia 8.1.2 Africa 8.1.3 The Caribbean 8.2 The printed media in Saint Lucia 8.3 Television 8.4 Kwéyòl language radio broadcasting 8.4.1 Early development of Kwéyòl radio broadcasting 8.4.2 Expansion of Kwéyòl radio programs 8.4.3 The role of government-owned Radio Saint Lucia 8.4.4 The FRC’s involvement 8.4.5 Jounen Kwéyòl 8.5 Radio and the Créolophonie 8.5.1 The Dominican connection 8.5.2 Music from the French West Indies 8.5.3 Haitian music 8.6 Pro-Kwéyòl activist involvement in radio 8.7 Attitudes toward the use of Kwéyòl on the radio 9 The changing status of Kwéyòl 9.1 A view from the pro-Kwéyòl cultural activists 9.1.1 Social class, education, and international experience 9.1.2 Language background and knowledge 9.1.3 Factors facilitating the promotion of Kwéyòl 9.1.4 Perceived changes in attitudes toward Kwéyòl 9.1.5 Perceived changes in patterns of language use 9.2 Language knowledge and use within the general population 9.3 Attitudes toward Kwéyòl within the general population 10 The enduring attraction and assimilative power of English 10.1 Persistence of negative attitudes toward Kwéyòl 10.2 The assimilative draw of globalization 10.2.1 The insignificance of Kwéyòl vis-à-vis the global economy 10.2.2 The evaporation of international funding for pro-Kwéyòl projects 10.3 Knowledge and use of English within the general population 10.3.1 Vernacular English of Saint Lucia 10.3.2 Influence of English on Kwéyòl 10.4 Attitudes toward English within the general population 10.4.1 Perceived need to improve quality of Saint Lucians’ English 10.4.2 English universally important for children to learn 10.4.3 English valued for global communication and opportunity 10.5 Perceptions of sociolinguistic change 11 The role of French in the nation 11.1 Saint Lucia’s French heritage and ties with the French Caribbean 11.1.1 Informal ties 11.1.2 Efforts to advance regional integration through language 11.2 France’s interest in and cooperation with Saint Lucia 11.2.1 French to facilitate deeper Franco-Saint Lucian ties 11.2.2 The expansion of French in the schools 11.3 Pro-Kwéyòl activist perceptions on pan-cultural cooperation 11.4 Pan-cultural connections and identities 11.4.1 Martinique versus Barbados 11.4.2 Haiti versus Jamaica 11.4.3 France versus England 11.4.4 Awareness of Saint Lucia’s linguistic affiliations 11.5 Knowledge and use of and attitudes toward French 12 Conclusions and language planning implications 12.1 The impact of globalization 12.2 Language death 12.3 Language planning and policy tried and implemented elsewhere 12.3.1 The Créolophonie 12.3.2 Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao 12.3.3 Paraguay 12.3.4 The United Kingdom: Scotland and Wales 12.3.5 The United States and Canada: Louisiana and Quebec 12.4 Implications for Saint Lucian language planning 12.4.1 Government 12.4.2 Education 12.4.3 The mass media 12.4.4 Other domains 12.4.5 French and other languages 12.5 National development References Index