[bioundgrd] 24.908 Creole Languages & Caribbean Identities

[Janice Chang]

>>New Linguistics Course (HASS / CI-H)
>>
>>24.908 Creole Languages & Caribbean Identities
>>MIT,  Spring 2007
>>Prof. Michel DeGraff <degraff at MIT.EDU>
>>
>>3-0-9 HASS / CI-H
>>Lecture: Tu, Th 11-12:30 56-191
>>
>>The `Creole' languages of the Caribbean are fascinating by-products of
>>the history of slavery and colonization in Africa and the Americas. In
>>a nutshell, these languages are the results of language acquisition in
>>the particular social settings that were entailed by the history of
>>contact, from the 15th-century onward, between Africans and Europeans,
>>first in Africa (mostly around slave-trade routes), then in Caribbean
>>colonial plantations.
>>
>>One of the best known Creole languages, and the one with the largest
>>community of speakers, is Haitian Creole. Its words and its grammar
>>are, in many ways, derived from varieties of French as spoken in
>>17th-/18th-century colonial Haiti. Other aspects of the language seem
>>to have emerged under the key influence of African languages, mostly
>>from West and Central Africa. Yet other properties of Haitian Creole
>>seem to have no straightforward analogues in any of the source
>>languages.
>>
>>Through a sample of linguistic case studies using data from Haitian
>>Creole and other Caribbean Creole languages, we will explore the (all
>>too fuzzy) concept of `creolization' from a cognitive, historical and
>>comparative perspective, and we will evaluate various hypotheses about
>>the formation of Creole languages and the long-standing claims that
>>these are "exceptional" languages.
>>
>>We will also explore the concept of `creolization' in its
>>non-linguistic senses. In this vein, we will examine the historical
>>context and the socio-cultural ramifications of ethnic contact in the
>>Caribbean.  The innovative and syncretic aspects of creolization's
>>products are well-known, even if their origins are still being
>>debated. These `Creole' phenomena are expressed, not only through
>>language, but also through religion, music, literature, etc.  To wit:
>>vodou, santeria, merengue, calypso, zouk, creolite, etc.
>>
>>Then we will address questions of "Caribbean identities" by examining
>>a sample of Creole speakers' beliefs and attitudes toward their
>>respective Creole language and toward the various sources of
>>influences on their linguistic and ethnic make-up (African, European,
>>Asian, etc., or some subset thereof depending on the particular
>>community)
>>
>>Interestingly, these beliefs and attitudes, many of which may seem
>>quite un-scientific, often find analogues in scholarly texts from the
>>past three centuries.  In this vein, the study of Creole languages
>>doubles as an insightful case study of how scientific theories are
>>influenced by---and in turn influence---both the history of scholarly
>>communities and the history of their scientific "objects".
>>
>>Comparisons will be made with relevant facets of African-American
>>language and culture.
>>
>>Materials for analysis will include linguistic data, texts, and audio
>>and video recordings.