Creolization: personal case

[Alexandre Enkerli]

Coming from a social group where issues of cultural/linguistic
representation are at the forefront (French-speaking Quebeckers), I tend
to react defensively at some claims about Creolization. For instance, the
tendency for some people to interpret our language (and, especially, the
"joual" urban variety) as a form of creole with an English "superstratum",
my first reaction is to cringe and then go on at great lengths about the
actual situation of our language. In that sense, a notion of domination is
very clear and the term "superstratum" may take a strong connotation.
For that reason, even the most convincing evidence as to the limited
impact of English on the deeper aspects of our language cannot counteract
the notion that Quebeckers have been "assimilated".
In some situations, it eventually leads to something of a knee-jerk
reaction by which a notion of "linguistic purity" gains currency.