On the Extraordinary Revival of a Creole: Palenquero (Colombia)

The once heavily stigmatized Afro-Hispanic creole of Palenque (Colombia) has undergone two unexpected transformations. First, younger generations, who until recently shunned the local creole, have begun to embrace it wholeheartedly as a symbol of ethnic pride. Secondly, Palenquero has quickly gone from virtual obscurity to considerable international lame. Recently, UNESCO proclaimed it a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity," further amplifying the creole s newfound notoriety, and casting the village of Palenque into the symbolic role of ethnolinguistic epicenter of the Afro-Hispanic world.Based on 25 years of successive fieldwork in Palenque, this paper retraces why and how Palenquero has undergone this transformation. In the concluding section, the article examines what (if any) lessons can be gleaned from the successful revitalization of its Lengua (local name of the Palenquero creole), and what it may mean for endangered speech communities elsewhere in the world.