Assessing the sociolinguistic situation of the Maroon creoles
Résumé
Recent anthropological and socio-historical research on Maroon populations suggests that Maroon communities have undergone significant social change since the 1960s spurred by processes of urbanization. However, to date very little is known about how these social changes are impacting on the Maroon Creoles as there is very little sociolinguistic research being carried out in the region. The aim of this paper is to examine the sociolinguistic context of the Maroon Creoles in the light of data from two recent sociolinguistic surveys carried out in Suriname and French Guiana. The findings demonstrate that the sociolinguistic status of Maroon languages has undergone various changes. Several of them are now well represented in French Guiana and, as additional languages, are gaining speakers both in Suriname and French Guiana. While their speakers increasingly practice them together with other languages, thus displaying their multilingual repertoire, there is little indication that their survival is threatened because their speakers predominantly hold positive attitudes towards them.
Des travaux anthropologiques et sociohistoriques récents auprès des Marrons montrent que des changements importants liés à l'urbanisation affectent ces groupes depuis les années 60. Toutefois, en raison d'une absence de travaux de type sociolinguistique dans la région, les conséquences de ces changements sociaux sur les langues créoles et leur pratique n'ont pas été mesurées. Cet article a pour but d'examiner le contexte sociolinguistique des créoles Marron de Guyane et du Surinam au travers de deux enquêtes à grande échelle.
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