Storytelling Traditions in Acadiana, Part 1 — Exploring Fictional Genres

Friday, April 4th
8:30-9:15
Sliman Theater, 129 East Main Street

Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener’s imagination. It is a social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics, or embellishment. Storytelling is a unique method of connecting both people and their ideas, conveying the culture, history, and values that unite us. They offer a way to understand the world, process experiences, and make sense of complex emotions.

In Part 1 of the two-part storytelling series, the presenters will describe the various genres of fictional storytelling traditions (e.g. fairy tales, myths, fables, folktales).  The two presenters, Mr. Barry Ancelet and Mr. Darrell Bourque, will engage audiences with unique, authentic voices and innovative storytelling techniques, fostering a deeper understanding of Louisiana’s cultural mosaic.

Barry Ancelet, Professor Emeritus at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, is a native Louisiana French-speaking Cajun and has been both the Director of the Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore and a Professor of Francophone Studies and Folklore in the Department of Modern Languages. He is a renowned author, having published numerous articles and several books on various aspects of Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole cultures and languages. Under his psuedonym, Jean Arceneaux, he has given poetry readings, as well as storytelling and musical performances throughout Francophone North America and in France, and he was the second Poet Laureate of Francophone Louisiana. And, in 1994, he published Cajun and Creole Folktales: The French Oral Tradition of South Louisiana. He co-founded the predecessor to Lafayette’s Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in1974 and continues to serve the Festival on its board. He has served as a consultant and fieldworker for several documentary films including for Pat Mire’s “Against the Tide: The Story of the Cajun People of Louisiana,” a production of Louisiana Public Broadcasting and Louisiana’s Department of Cultural, Recreation and Tourism. 

Darrell Bourque is professor emeritus in English (University of Louisiana at Lafayette), a former Louisiana Poet Laureate, and recipient of the 2014 Louisiana Book Festival Writer Award, the ULL Center for Louisiana Studies James Rivers Award, and the 2019 Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Humanist of the Year Award.  His poetry publications include (among others) Megan’s Guitar and Other Poems from Acadie and From the Other Side: Henriette Delille. His work has addressed the Acadian Expulsion and broader themes of human migration. He is a founding member of Narrative 4, an international story exchange focused on building a culture of connectedness through storytelling, and a co-founder of the Amédé Ardoin Project. He describes the power of storytelling by noting that, through it, society can de-escalate conflict through a recognition of shared humanity.