Dany Bébel-Gisler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dany Bébel-Gisler
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Dany Bébel
7 April 1935 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
|
| Died | 28 September 2003 (aged 68) Lamentin, Guadeloupe
|
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | sociologist, ethnologist, linguistic activist, writer |
| Years active | 1960–2013 |
| Known for | preservation and education about Guadeloupean Creole |
Dany Bébel-Gisler (born April 7, 1935 – died September 28, 2003) was an important writer and language expert from Guadeloupe. She focused on Antillean Creole and the study of cultures (ethnology). She was one of the first people to strongly support keeping and teaching Creole languages.
Dany Bébel-Gisler also studied how the main language used in the Caribbean showed social differences. She looked at how people from different cultures either blended in or kept their own ways. She played a big part in UNESCO's The Slave Route Project. This project explored how African, Caribbean, and European cultures mixed. She also wrote several books, including children's books, about Guadeloupean culture.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Dany Bébel was born on April 7, 1935, in Pointe-à-Pitre, a city in Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe is an island in the French Antilles. Her father's family owned a sugar plantation there. Her mother worked on the plantation.
Growing up on the sugarcane plantation, Dany was encouraged to study in France. As a teenager, she moved to France. She went to a special school in Toulouse to prepare for university. Later, she studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.
When she finished her studies, Dany Bébel was the first person in her mother's family to earn her baccalauréat. This is a high school diploma in France. She also won a special French language prize. She continued her studies at the Grandes écoles, learning about cultures, languages, and society. Her teacher was the famous Michel Leiris.
Working for Change
Dany Bébel-Gisler started her career in France in the 1960s. She taught in cities like Nanterre and Aubervilliers. Her focus was on helping immigrant and working-class students. She also led a program in Paris to help adults from Africa and Algeria learn to read and write.
In 1976, she returned to Guadeloupe. Her goal was to start a new teaching project for people in rural areas around Lamentin. She wanted to help adults who could not read or speak French. She aimed to create a spelling system for the local Creole language. At that time, there were not many Creole texts.
In 1975, she published a booklet called Kèk Prinsip Pou Ékri Kréyól (Some Principles for Writing in Kreol). In this book, she suggested a way to write Guadeloupean Creole. It was based on the system used for Haitian Creole. She believed this system could be improved and used to create a standard written form for education.
In 1976, she published La Langue créole, force jugulée (The Creole language, forced suppression). In this book, she criticized the French school system. It often put immigrant children in special classes because they did not speak standard French. She felt this made students feel less capable. It also affected their education and future job chances. She believed language should connect people, not separate them.
Education for Everyone
In 1979, Bébel-Gisler started the Centre d'Education Populaire Bwadoubout. This was an alternative school. It helped adults and children who had trouble getting an education because formal schools only taught in French. She ran the center and received money from the French National Center for Scientific Research.
For Bébel-Gisler, language became a way to fight for what was right. She understood that controlling knowledge meant controlling power. By choosing not to use French, Guadeloupeans were showing their unique identity. They were also rejecting the idea of becoming fully French.
Writing and History
Besides her work in education, Bébel-Gisler also wrote novels. In 1985, she published Lénora: l’histoire enfouie de la Guadeloupe (Leonora: the buried story of Guadeloupe). This book described the years 1940 to 1943. During this time, Governor Constant Sorin made rules to keep Guadeloupe and Martinique separate. This was to prevent American or British control, but it caused much suffering on the islands. The book was released in English in 1994.
In 1998, she published a children's book called Grand'mère, ça commence où la Route de l'esclave? (Grandmother, where does the Slave Route begin?). This book explored the history of the slave trade. It helped people understand the past and its impact on today.
In 2000, she published À la recherche d’une odeur de grand’mère; D’en Guadeloupe une « enfant de la Dass » raconte… (In Search of Grandmother's Smell: Tales from a "child of the Dass" in Guadeloupe). This book shows how sugar plantations shaped the land and the people. It talks about how family ties changed and how relationships between men, women, and children were affected.
The Slave Route Project
In 1996, Bébel-Gisler joined UNESCO's The Slave Route Project. This project explores how African, Caribbean, and European cultures are connected through places related to the slave trade. She was in charge of finding and documenting sites in the Caribbean.
She brought the project to Guadeloupe. She found eighteen important historical sites there. These included plantations, forts, and jails.
Death and Legacy
Dany Bébel-Gisler passed away suddenly from a heart attack on September 28, 2003. She was at her home in Lamentin. She is remembered for her strong efforts to protect and preserve the Guadeloupean Creole language.
