La jeune francophonie américaine: langue et culture chez les jeunes d'héritage francophone aux États-Unis d'Amérique éd. by Joseph Edward Price (review)

The body of research on linguistic identity in North American minority Francophone contexts has grown significantly in the past thirty years, yet much of the literature concerns Francophone Canada. And, until recent years, research on Francophone linguistic identity in United States Francophone heritage communities has focused predominantly on elder Francophones. For this reason, Price presents an edited collection of texts, principally in French, on the identity, language, and cultural affinity of American youth of Francophone heritage. The text is organized into two parts, La Louisiane and La Nouvelle-Angleterre, and includes an introduction. Price opens the volume with a historical overview of the Francophone presence in each of the volume's focal regions, problematizing the importance of Francophone heritage youth's affinity to their language and culture for the survival of American Francophone heritage communities. The volume's section on Louisiane begins with Tamara Lindner's text on Louisiana university students' beliefs about the interrelation and importance of Cajun French and Cajun culture. Becky A. Brown documents her children's identity as bilingual heritage Francophones in Indiana, a region with very little Francophone presence. Kevin J. Rottet and Jennifer Betters describe two Louisiana French immersion students' competence in French, investigating their recognition and production of Louisiana French variants, morphology, or syntax, and their use registers of French. Barry Jean Ancelet gives a comprehensive description of literature and music by notable Cajun artists important for the preservation of Cajuns' cultural heritage. C. Brian Barnett's chapter, in English, discusses Louisiana French immersion teachers' views of the addition of Louisiana French and Francophone cultures to the state's French immersion curriculum. The section on La Nouvelle Angleterre begins with Susan Pinette's text on the University of Maine's Minor in Franco-American Studies, through which heritage Francophones may learn about their histories and cultural backgrounds. Carole Salmon presents data on five young New England bilingual Francophones' language representations and affinity to Francophone identity. Finally, Price discusses a study conducted among bilingual youth aged 16 to 26 living in the Saint John Valley in Maine. Readers may find that some of the volume's selections align with its theme better than others, and when they read the volume's introduction, they may wish for more citations to afford greater transparency vis-à-vis certain of its sources. Nonetheless, each text contributes valuable information on the attitudes, linguistic identities, and competences, or the development thereof, among Fran-cophone heritage youth in the United States. The volume's contributors are leading scholars, and their texts and comprehensive bibliographies are invaluable for sociolinguists looking to expand their resources on Francophone North America. The resources accompanying various texts also provide instructors and curriculum developers with a beginning point to familiarize themselves with Franco-American culture; especially notable is Pinette's full syllabus for a course on Franco-American Studies. As one of the sole sources addressing Francophone heritage youth identity in the United States, this volume would be an important addition to a seminar on Francophone sociolinguistics, whether at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level.