Creolization

This article is about the social and cultural concept of creolization. For the linguistic concept of creolization, see Creole genesis.

Creolization is the process in which Creole cultures emerge in the New World. As a result of colonization there was a mixture between people of indigenous, African, and European descent, which came to be understood as Creolization. Creolization is traditionally used to refer to the Caribbean; although not exclusive to the Caribbean it can be further extended to represent other diasporas. The mixing of people brought a cultural mixing which ultimately led to the formation of new identities. It is important to emphasize that Creolization also is the mixing of the "old" and "traditional," with the "new" and "modern." Furthermore, creolization occurs when participants actively select cultural elements that may become part of or inherited culture. Robin Cohen states that Creolization is a condition in which "the formation of new identities and inherited culture evolve to become different from those they possessed in the original cultures," and then creatively merge these to create new varieties that supersede the prior forms.

Beginning

According to Charles Stewart the concept of creolization originates during the 16th century, although, there is no date recording the beginning of the word creolization. The term creolization was understood to be a distinction between those individuals born in the "Old World" versus the New World. As consequence to slavery and the different power relations between different races creolization became synonymous with Creole, often of which was used to distinguish the master and the slave. The word Creole was also used to distinguish those Afro-descendants who were born in the New World in comparison to African-born slaves. The word creolization has evolved and changed to have different meaning at different times in history.

What has not changed through the course of time is the context in which Creole has been used. It has been associated with cultural mixtures of African, European, and indigenous (in addition to other lineages in different locations) ancestry (e.g. Caribbeans). Creole has pertained to "African-diasporic geographical and historical specificity". With globalization Creolization has undergone a "remapping of worlds regions", or as Orlando Patterson would explain, "the creation of wholly new cultural forms in the transnational space, such as 'New Yorican' and Miami Spanish. Today, creolization refers to this mixture of different people and different cultures that merge to become one.

Diaspora

Creolization as a relational process can enable new forms of identity formation and processes of communal enrichment through pacific intermixtures and aggregations, but its uneven dynamics remain a factor to consider whether in the context of colonization or globalization. The meeting points of multiple diasporas and the crossing and intersection of diasporas are sites of new creolizations. New sites of creolizations continue the ongoing ethics of the sharing of the world that has now become a global discourse which is rooted in English and French Caribbean. The cultural fusion and hybridization of new diasporas surfaces and creates new forms of creolization.

Culture

There are different processes of creolization have shaped and reshaped the different forms of one culture. For example, food, music, and religion have been impacted by the creolization of today's world.

Food

Creolization has had an impact on the elements and traditions of food. The blend of cooking that describes the mixture of African and French elements in the American South, particularly in Louisiana and in the French Caribbean have been influenced by creolization. This mixture has led to the unique combination of cultures that led to cuisine of creolization, better known as creole cooking. These very creations of difference flavors particularly pertains to specific territory which is influenced by different histories and experiences.

Music

Jazz music took its roots from the dialogue between black folk music in the U.S., that is derived from plantations and rural areas and black music based in urban New Orleans. Jazz music developed from the creole music that takes its roots from the combination of blues, parlour music, opera, and spiritual music.

Religion

The popular religions of Haiti, Cuba, and Brazil formed from the mixing of African and European elements. Religious beliefs like Voodoo in Haiti, Santeria in Cuba, Shango in Trinidad, and Candomblé in Brazil take its roots from creolization. The creation of these new religious expressions have sustained and evolved overtime to make creole religions.

See also

• Creole language
• Créolité
• Miscegenation