Endorsements
“Marise La Grenade-Lashley’s Mwen Ka Alé is a wonderful publication, inviting us to share the experiences of elderly speakers of Grenadian Creole. Briefly navigating history and geography, and sharing some thought-provoking information in those areas, the publication provides an extensive glossary of the language and locates the story of Grenada’s French-lexicon Creole in the struggles of its working people.
It’s a timely publication, a thoughtful and engaged tribute to the tri-island state and its elders, the makers of history and culture who are not often celebrated.”
Merle Collins, Writer and Professor, University of Maryland
It’s a timely publication, a thoughtful and engaged tribute to the tri-island state and its elders, the makers of history and culture who are not often celebrated.”
Merle Collins, Writer and Professor, University of Maryland
"One of the strengths of Marise La Grenade-Lashley's book is its empathy and respect towards Creole speakers in Grenada. It acknowledges a generation of speakers who are the custodians of a language that is an important part of Grenada's history. This book reminds us that our history in the Caribbean is very much linked to our ability to adapt imposed languages to reflect our realities; that, when confronted with a distressing and inhumane situation, we found the strength and the creativity to make those linguistic, religious and cultural experiences our own. As a Haitian writer who writes in both Creole and French, I was delighted to discover Grenada’s Creole through Mwen Ka Alé. It moves me to say, in Haitian Creole, ‘Mwen ka pale’, meaning, I can speak … Creole of course."
Évelyne Trouillot, Writer and Professor, State University of Haiti
Évelyne Trouillot, Writer and Professor, State University of Haiti
"A woman whose last name at birth was La Grenade (French for Grenada), whose deepest love has always been for the English-lexicon Creole of Grenada, produces a book on the French-lexicon Creole of Grenada (Kéyòl). You can’t make this up! What we have here is not fiction, but the facts of life of a language. Against the historical background of the Atlantic slave trade, and age-old rivalries between colonial Powers, this thoroughly researched and lucidly presented book chronicles the development of Kéyòl as Grenada’s language of communication, and explains the factors leading it to decline to the verge of extinction. Thankfully, however, generations to come will still benefit from the audiovisual record of Kéyòl speech on Lashley’s website.
The present reader was particularly impressed by the sheer volume of geographical, historical, cultural and linguistic information distilled into this concise book. He was instructed and entertained by Lashley’s insights into the contributions of Kéyòl to calypso, folk music, carnival, place names, religion and spirituality. As one who had often wondered about terms such as “dingolé”, “toutoulbé”, “vaps” and “vaykivay”, he will continue to treasure the glossary of Kéyòl words and phrases, and the section on Kéyòl proverbs and idioms.
This book, complete with illustrations, and supplemented by online audiovisual archives, is clearly the result of time-consuming and painstaking research. The material is presented in a logical and readable form, so that the uninitiated can understand, learn and enjoy. At the same time, as a work of scholarship, it offers valuable data to the linguistics experts, and is sure to inspire even further research.
Calling language-lovers! Calling the Francophonie brigade! Calling Yves Amar and La danse des mots!"
Kester Branford, Ph.D. (Cantab), Retired United Nations Translator
"I am just completing this book, and could not wait to write this review. As a writer, I was amazed and educated by the sheer volume of our unique history and culture embedded in our language. I spent five young years in the Grenada countryside town of Gouyave where we heard sprinklings of our French-Lexicon Creole. When we used it, we were told it was 'bad English'. I regret not learning more of it, beyond singular words we still use like 'bazodi', 'bonje','planas', and 'zaboka'. As a matter of fact, I had a character named Planass in my first Grenada novel. But this book brings it all back to life, not just the words, but the history of slavery and struggle behind this unique language. For anyone wanting a deeper flavor of Grenada, past and present, outside of just flat names and dates, this book will do it for you. As a writer about Grenada and the Caribbean, I plan to keep it on my desk as a valuable resource! A hearty congratulations to Marise La Grenade-Lashley!"
Dunbar Campbell, Author
Dunbar Campbell, Author
