Acadieman vs l’idéologie du standard : les représentations linguistiques dans Acadieman
Date
2019-04-21
Authors
Kuo, Tiffany
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Abstract
Acadieman is the protagonist of the animated series Acadieman by Dano LeBlanc, which aired on Rogers Television from 2005 to 2009. An inhabitant of Moncton, New Brunswick, the superhero (sort of) and pirate of the French language is only heroic because he dares to express himself in the local vernacular Chiac, which is often denigrated due to the fact that it borrows extensively from English. Although this series is somewhat controversial, Acadieman and his friends have won the hearts of their audience through the use of humour and Acadian inside jokes, as well as sheer approachability, while also broaching current linguistic issues and topics. In recent times, it has been noted that due to the increased visibility of Chiac thanks to local media and artists, attitudes towards Chiac have been gradually shifting towards the positive; some could even say that this variety of French is no longer stigmatized. By focusing on two episodes (“Acadieman vs la war des étoiles” and “Acadieman vs la guerre civile”) and an excerpt (“Chiac pour les dummies!”) of the second season of Acadieman, I uncover the ongoing linguistic ideologies in Acadie which are sometimes opposing, showing that attitudes towards this vernacular are mixed.
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Keywords
Chiac, Acadian, French, linguistic ideologies, linguistic stereotypes, Acadieman Mots clés : chiac, français acadien, idéologies linguistiques, stéréotypes linguistiques, Acadieman