L'union fait la force : Acadian music as a cultured symbol and unifying factor

Abstract

To date, there has not been extensive research done on the subject of Acadian music. Current scholarly efforts focus mainly on other aspects of the culture, such as history and demographics. Despite the lack of knowledge about the subject, songs with distinctly Acadian themes, such as remembering the Deportation and the past, Evangeline, homeland, and pride in heritage started to emerge in the late nineteenth century with the beginning of the Acadian renaissance. There were many national symbols and emblems chosen at this time, including a flag, anthem, motto, and the popular adoption of the figure of Evangeline. However, the Cajuns of Louisiana tell a different story of Evangeline than the Acadians of the Maritimes, and they also have adopted their own flag. However, the music from these two regions, among others, share common thematic material, and in doing so, act as a cultural unifier between groups that were separated by the Deportation. Musicians from all corners of Acadie have continued to use this thematic material in their music through the close of the twentieth century, which shows that these themes of remembering the Deportation and the part, Evangeline, homeland, and pride in heritage continue to be important to the younger generations and help to bind the Acadian people together through a popular medium and common themes.