“Chus comme chus ” (I am what I am.), explains the plain-spoken title character in “La Souillonne: A First in Franco Fiction,” a series of new dramatic monologues by Franco-American author Normand Beaupré of Biddeford. The book consists of reminiscences by a 69-year-old former textile millworker reflecting on her life. It is written entirely in the regional vernacular that is still spoken in many Franco-American homes.
For those who grew up in that culture, her words will evoke memories of shared experiences in a brand of authentic traditional French that evolved in isolation in North America since the 17th century. The author captures the sounds and expressions of this spoken language with uncanny accuracy. It is a language that has been much maligned, especially by educators, who insist it is not “real” or “Parisian” French. Yet, many consider it to be real, historical French.
“La Souillonne” legitimizes this way of speaking by codifying it, as such. It renders the spoken language of a whole population of French-speaking immigrants from Canada by faithfully reproducing the oral expression into the written word. A glossary of regional terms with the standard French equivalent is included at the back of the book.
Reading La Souillonne’s thoughts about life is like reading the diary of an under-educated but sincere relative. The themes touched upon – mill work, religion, house cleaning (le grand ménage), old customs and superstitions – are told in a resigned and unassuming manner without regret or bitterness.
Franco-Americans who grew up speaking French will recognize many of the words, such as amanchure, bâdrer, frette, mautadit and pantoute, and will be seeing them for the first time in written form. This work is an intimate portrait of a unique culture that has long been undervalued. Those who are familiar with the Acadian writer Antonine Maillet’s work, “La Sagouine,” will find great similarities between “La Souillonne” and the lon, dramatic monologue of an Acadian washerwoman.
Beaupré, who received a doctorate in French from Brown University, is a longtime professor of French and has been active in promoting Franco-American culture for decades. He was a founding member of Biddeford’s La Kermesse festival, which celebrated its 24th anniversary this summer, and of the Centre d’Héritage Franco-Américain, whose archives were transferred to the Franco-American Collection at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College in 1990. Beaupré has also written “L’Enclume et le Couteau,” “Le Petit Mangeur de Fleurs,” “Lumineau, Marginal Enemies,” and “Deux Femmes, Deux Rêves.” He writes in French and in English.
Copies of “La Souillonne” are available for purchase at the Franco-American Collection at Lewiston-Auburn College, 51 Westminster St., Lewiston. For more information, call 753-6545.
Donat B. Boisvert is the coordinator of the Franco-American Collection at USM/L-A.
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