Book
The celebration of Cajun identity: ethnic unity and the Crawfish Festival
University Microfilms International • Ann Arbor, Mich. • Published In 1981 • Pages:
By: Esman, Marjorie R..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Marjorie Esman conducted research in and around Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, between August 1979 and August 1980 for this dissertation. After an introductory chapter on Cajun cultural history, Esman begins a discussion of the main theme, ethnic unity, by contrasting the politically oriented ethnic assertion movements of non-Cajun groups such as the American Blacks, Quebecois, Basques, and northern Irish with the cultural and non-political ethnic assertion methods of the Cajuns. The Cajuns express their ethnicity through festivals and public proclamations of identity, but not through collective political action. 'Cajun festivals, as ritual, substitute for effective group mobilization of any other kind, and their prominence, fame, and popularity advertise Cajun identity and cohesiveness almost as effectively as would political confrontation' (p. 181). Esman presents a detailed analysis of the elements of the Crawfish Festival held at Breaux Bridge in 1980 to support this analysis.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- History and culture change
- Total culture
- Food quest
- Food preparation
- Food consumption
- Rest days and holidays
- Spectacles
- Ethnic stratification
- Political movements
- Ethnozoology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Cajuns
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1995
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle, 1993
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- August 1979-August 1980 (p. ii)
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- variable
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Breaux Bridge and St. Martin Parishes, Louisiana, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Marjorie Ruth Esman
- Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Tulane University, 1981
- Abstracted in: Disseration abstracts international -- 42/03, p. 1227, Dec. 1981.
- UM-AAC 8118365
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Cajuns