Cajun Music

Paper Summary:

This paper traces the origins of the Cajun people and culture and, in particular, their musical heritage. The paper describes the musical repertoire shared by both Cajuns and Creoles and looks at the Creole contribution of Zydeco towards Cajun music. The paper also describes the unique characteristics of Cajun music, typical instruments used for Cajun music, and its evolution and impact on Louisiana culture.

From the Paper:

"A Cajun is a "Louisianian who descends from French-speaking Acadians," however many common Cajun surnames such as Souileau and Romero are not Acadian in origin, but are Spanish, German or French Creole and some are even of Anglo or Scotch-Irish origin, as in the case of famed Cajun musicians Lawrence Walker and Dennis McGee (Cajun 1 Pp). For this reason, "contemporary scholars of Cajun history and culture tend to offer a more complex, comprehensive view, attributing the traits of modern-day Cajuns to a dynamic, unending process of ethnic interaction" (Cajun 1 Pp). Modern Cajuns are largely homogenous, however, their ancestry consists of a mixture of numerous ethnic groups (Cajun 1 Pp). The majority of early Acadians originated in the Centre-Ouest region of France, while other came from families of Spanish, Irish, Scottish, English, Basque and American Indian (Cajun 1 Pp). When Acadians were forced out of Nova Scotia in 1755, many sought refuge in South Louisiana and again intermixed with other ethnic groups, especially with the French, Spanish, German, American Indian, and Anglo-American settlers (Cajun 1 Pp)."

More papers on Cajun Music:

• Term Paper # 101515 : "Zydeco Music"
• Essay # 25271 : "Zydeco Music and its Cultural Importance"
• Analytical Essay # 89677 : "Methods of Motivation in Music Education"

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