Antouène et Françoése: Parody and Linguistic Representation in Reconstruction-Era New Orleans

abstract: Among the earliest literary representations of Louisiana Creole, the anonymous "Antouène et Françoése" stories from the satirical paper Le Carillon represent a permanent marker of an almost entirely oral language and a glimpse into the shifting understanding of race in Reconstruction New Orleans. This article seeks to revalorize the parodic use of Creole in these stories and to read into them a means of expression for Creoles of color during a period where a multiracial society was in the process of collapsing into a biracial one. These stories ultimately give Creole a literary significance that establishes it as part of the American canon.