Barry Jean Ancelet (pseudonym Jean Arceneaux; born 1951)
is a
Cajun
The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
While Cajuns are usually described as ...
folklorist in
Louisiana French
Louisiana French ( frc, français de la Louisiane; lou, françé la lwizyàn) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisi ...
and ethnomusicologist in
Cajun music
Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem ...
. He has written several books, and under his pseudonym Jean Arceneaux, including poetry and lyrics to songs.
Early life and education
Born in
Church Point, in
Acadia Parish
Acadia Parish (french: link=no, Paroisse de l'Acadie) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 57,576. The parish seat is Crowley. The parish was founded from parts of St. Landry Parish in ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
on 25 June 1951.
He graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now named the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...
) with a Bachelor of Arts in
French in 1974.
He received a Master of Arts in
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
from
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
in 1977.
Ancelet obtained a doctorate in 1984 in ''Études Créoles'' (anthropology and linguistics) from the
Université de Provence, (Aix-Marseille I) in
Aix-en-Provence,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Career
Music festivals
Ancelet co-founded and acted as the Director the ''Tribute to Cajun Music,'' in 1974 and from 1976 to 1980,
which became the annual
Festivals Acadiens. He has also served as a Director as well as the President and member of the Executive Board for the Festival de Musique Acadienne/Cajun Music Festival since 1980.
Teaching
He has taught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, starting in 1977, first as the Director of the Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore (from 1977 to 1980), as a Professor of Francophone Studies and Folklore (1977 to 1980),
and he was a folklorist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Center for Louisiana Studies (from 1980 to 1985).
Ancelet has served as Chair of University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Department of Modern Languages and as the first Director of the university's Center for
Acadian and
Creole Folklore — regarded as the largest compilation of media resources pertaining to these two south Louisiana ethnic groups.
Other work
Ancelet hosted the ''Rendez-vous des Cajuns,'' a live weekly music radio program on
KRVS
KRVS (88.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a public radio format. Licensed to Lafayette, Louisiana, United States, it is currently owned by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and features programming from American Public Media, Nation ...
for more than a decade.
Ancelet has served as the Chairman on the Louisiana Folklife Commission from 1984 to 1990.
Ancelet is a member of many organizations, including the l'
Ordre des francophones d'Amérique, in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
; a fellow of the
American Folklore Society; and a fellow of the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Honors and awards
In 2005, Ancelet was named the Willis Granger and Tom Debaillon BORSF Professor of Francophone Studies at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
In 2008, he won the Américo Paredes Prize by the
American Folklore Society.
In 2009, he was named Louisiana "Humanist of the Year" by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
Publications
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*
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As Jean Arceneaux
*
*
* (published in French)
Film
See also
*
Richard Guidry
Richard Guidry (October 18, 1949 – July 27, 2008) was a Cajun cultural activist and educator who worked to save the French language in Louisiana.
Born in Gueydan, Louisiana, Gueyden, Louisiana, on October 18, 1949, Guidry (who referred to hims ...
References
Further reading
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*
External links
*
*Video
Interview with Barry Jean Ancelet(2018),
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife". The center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the library in 1928 as a repo ...
,
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancelet, Barry Jean
1951 births
Living people
American male writers
American poets in French
American writers in French
American folklorists
Cajun writers
Indiana University alumni
People from Church Point, Louisiana
University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni
University of Louisiana at Lafayette faculty
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
University of Provence alumni