Factors not easily preserved in written form are the storyteller's pace, modultations, gestures, and that Cajun-French dialect. Audio replays of performances may be heard on a weekly radio program, called "Rendez-vous des Cajuns", broadcasted from the historic Liberty Theatre in Eunice, Louisiana. Viewing a videotape is the next best thing to actually witnessing a live performance, but recordings lack the one-on-one aspect which raconters custom-tailor to suit different sets of listeners. Like Cajun-French music and dance, storytelling is best experienced in person.
"Cajun Folktales" is a colorfully illustrated children's book which features Acadiana's answer to the Uncle Remus series. Author Celia Soper presents the adventures of Bouki (boo-kee) and Lapin (lah-pan), who are Cajun-Creole versions of the Brers Bear and Rabbit. The nickname "bouki" is traditionally associated with ugly or funny dupes among local communities.
Raconters have developed their reputations as narrators based on tall tales, jokes, family histories, or allegories with a local flavor. Opportunities for telling favorite stories are frequently found at informal gatherings such as fishing and hunting trips, barbershops and beauty parlors, BBQ's, fish fries, crawfish boils, small bars and stores, quilting bees, card games, and "veilles" (traditional evening visits among neighbors and relatives). Family reunions, weddings, funerals, and holiday dinners are other social occasions for the recounting of stories.
The oral narratives of "les raconters" are a key to cultural continuity in Acadiana. More than just entertainers, Cajun storytellers are the keepers of their community's life stories.
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