Lomax’s description occurs in his documentary, Cajun Country, where his specific goal is to discuss the concept of “Cajun” not as a group of people so much as a cultural dynamic capable of absorbing and reworking a variety of influences, albeit most of them deriving from traditional folkways found in southern France.
That goal is apparent throughout Cajun Country, and nowhere more so than in Lomax’s discussion of Mardi Gras and its musical events: “Here’s a true cultural marriage for you. The song is French, the gumbo is African, the costumes are French, and the sound comes from the Cajun variant of the African hot wind and percussion orchestra; the typical Zydeco combo of accordion and frottoir or washboard playing hot licks to what might be an old African chant.”
…or of mulatez, to be more exact. These descriptions of allegedly unique mixtures, everywhere, sound so similar. La isla que se repite with small differences, I know. I wonder whether I ought to tackle theories of Louisiana in one of my upcoming masterpieces.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 