The Story of French New Orleans

History of a Creole City

De: Dianne Guenin-Lelle

Narrado por: Sally Martin

What is it about the city of New Orleans? History, location, and culture continue to link it to France while distancing it culturally and symbolically from the US. This audiobook explores the traces of French language, history, and artistic expression that have been present there over the last 300 years. This volume focuses on the French, Spanish, and American colonial periods to understand the imprint that French sociocultural dynamic left on the Crescent City.

The migration of Acadians to New Orleans at the time the city became a Spanish dominion and the arrival of Haitian refugees when the city became an American territory oddly reinforced its Francophone identity. However, in the process of establishing itself as an urban space in the Antebellum South, the culture of New Orleans became a liability for New Orleans elite after the Louisiana Purchase.

New Orleans and the Caribbean share numerous historical, cultural, and linguistic connections. The audiobook analyzes these connections and the shared process of Creolization occurring in New Orleans and throughout the Caribbean Basin. It suggests "French" New Orleans might be understood as a trope for unscripted "original" Creole social and cultural elements. Since being Creole came to connote African descent, the study suggests an association with France in the minds of whites allowed for a less racially bound and contested social order within the US.

©2016 University Press of Mississippi (P)2018 Redwood Audiobooks

interesting history of a unique area

I liked that this was a deeper explanation of an area of the south that is very unique.

A Comprehensive Story of New Orleans

This was a great detailed audiobook about how the city of New Orleans came about. It was detailed and pretty long but very interesting. I feel that I have a greater knowledge of the city and the state of Louisiana. It has a rich history of many peoples and cultures. I listened to this audiobook in three sittings while I painted. It was relaxing and I felt I could paint a picture of New Orleans such as this book did with words.

Sally Martin did an excellent job narrating. She spoke clearly and was easy to understand. She had great pronunciations.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Very informative

A good narrator with a lot to say. Very comprehensive overview of the history of New Orleans: politics, literature and interpersonal aspects. Narrator handled all the French fluidly.

The most non-american US city

Dianne Guenin-Lelle's history of New Orleans provides a very interesting and comprehensive history of the city and it's people. It looks at the "most non-American in the USA" and it's origins in French, British, African and Caribbean cultures and peoples. How changing politics - Louisiana purchase, French Revolution, Napoleonic wars, US civil war and so on - all shaped the city. It looks at how race relations changed things. How the meaning of 'creole' was adapted depending on the people and the politics.

One thing I found highly interesting what looking at the names of major roads in the city and what they are called. How changing of names, or the time in which they were named, provided an insight into the political and social affiliations of the Orleans peoples.

The book is filled with insights like this.

Narration by Sally Martin was good. Clear, easy to follow, well paced. She dealt well with the French and creole when it came up in the text.

his book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

Good history and insights but repeative

Good overview of New Orleans and Louisiana history and how the culture formed. Only issues were that there seemed to be some repeatition later on in the book and some major events where brushed over with little detail given.