When this blog was started, one of my first ideas was to write an article on the Alliance Française de la Jamaïque. At the time, I honestly wasn’t sure how I would pull that off. And I least expected that the director, Larry Lamartinière, would be interested in my blog and would want to speak with me. Thankfully I was wrong and this interview did in fact happen. Disclaimer, this the longest TJF post to date so get comfortable.

WHAT IS THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE AND HOW DID IT COME TO JAMAICA?

This may be the first time some of you readers are hearing about the Alliance Française de la Jamaïque, so we started this interview giving some background on the organization. Having been around since 1956, the Alliance Française de la Jamaïque (AFJ) is the oldest French institution in Jamaica. Furthermore, it is part of the global network of Alliance Française. Prior to this interview, I had assumed that the Alliance Française was a very subtle method of inculturation on the part of the French government. Thankfully, I was mistaken. As Lamartinière explained to me, “everywhere in the world where you have an Alliance Française, it’s a local organization…the Alliance Française in Jamaica was made by Jamaican people”. In other words, the Alliance Française is introduced by people in a country who love French and want to make a community. Where have I heard that before? It’s best to imagine the structure of a franchise in order to understand how the Alliance Française works. In very simplified terms because I didn’t study business, imagine an entity found in almost every country with a head office in another country. When opening in a new country it operates semi-independently and adapts itself to the culture of the country that it’s located in.

And Jamaica’s ‘franchise’ is in Kingston. A comparatively smaller Alliance Française, Lamartinière speculates that that may be a reflection of the linguistic and cultural context of the country. And as you rightly guessed, that was a very eloquent way of saying that French is not a popular language here, therefore, the AFJ is not a large organization and not considered largely important to the masses. However, much like this blog, although the AFJ doesn’t have mass appeal, it has a targeted demographic – French lovers and students. And to its students, the AFJ is very important, and vice versa.

THE AFJ IS MORE THAN A PLACE TO LEARN FRENCH, BUT A PLACE THAT PROMOTES FRENCH CULTURE

The motto of the AFJ is ‘Your French Rendez-Vous in Jamaica’ so this is more than just a place to learn French. Apart from being an exam centre for the DELF, DALF and TEF exams, according to Lamartinière it’s on “a mission which is to promote Francophone culture in the country where you are.” They serve as a bridge between Jamaica and France, “a Jamaica-based association but promoting French culture”. To that end, they work with the French embassy in Jamaica and while the director is French, everything else is Jamaican.

IN PURSUIT OF THAT MISSION THEY’VE HAD SEVERAL EVENTS SO FAR PROMOTING FRENCH CULTURE

In pursuit of that mission, the AFJ has held events introducing French culture to the general population. Of course 2020 is unique because of Covid-19, so many of these events had to be held online. In the last several months there have been a myriad of events hosted mainly on Zoom and Instagram showcasing aspects of French and French Caribbean culture. Previous online sessions include:

  • Intro to French Creole
  • Poems by Aimé Césaire (a relatively unknown poet in the English-speaking Caribbean)
  • Haitian Folktales
  • Fête de la Musique (a live concert held on Facebook live and featured French and Jamaican musicians)
  • Moving to and Living in France

One of the aims of these events is to introduce participants to people from other Francophone countries. The transition has been challenging but slowly more people are engaging online, not to mention the following on the AFJ Instagram page has grown significantly.

As previously mentioned, the AFJ is a bridge between France and Jamaica. But up to this point, that bridge has been one way – feeding Jamaicans with French culture. For the first time in the organization’s history that bridge will be going both ways with the introduction of a new programme teaching Jamaican patois to French speakers. An initiative by Lamartinière, this programme may not have come to fruition without Covid forcing the transition to online classes. It’s clear that there is some interest among French speakers to learn Jamaican patois. A native of Martinique, he explained to me that he was exposed to Jamaican patois through our music before he was exposed to Standard English. “[Jamaican patois is] a language we hear, that we love but we can’t speak or understand. Most French people don’t understand it.” The class is taught in French by a Jamaican who has lived in France and speaks both languages fluently. Since this interview, this initiative has launched to rave reviews from students.

THE AFJ HAS HAD TO CHANGE ITS STRATEGY IN LIGHT OF COVID-19, BUT SO FAR THIS NEW STRATEGY HAS BEEN WORKING

Coping with Covid-19 has not been easy for anybody, and the AFJ is no exception. They’ve had to change their strategy in light of the pandemic, and thus far it’s been working. Pre-Covid there were approximately eighty students per term, mainly from Kingston and St Andrew. There was discussion on how to bring French and the services of the AFJ to the rest of Jamaica. Now, during the pandemic and with the transition to online classes, students across the island have enrolled. But Jamaican residents are not the only beneficiaries of these online classes. These classes also have students from the diaspora, from the United States and the Cayman Islands where there is no Alliance Francaise. Covid-19 has provided AFJ with a much needed opportunity for rebirth – a phoenix born from its ashes if you will.

But the pandemic has not come without its drawbacks. Not everybody has readily made the transition to online classes. They lost some of their regular students who preferred face-to-face classes. The pandemic also put a financial strain on some people, so French classes were deemed an unnecessary expense that had to be sacrificed. The organization has not been blind to this challenge and has lowered the price of online classes. It must be noted that the aforementioned online events are also free.

UNDER THESE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE DIRECTOR IS MAKING IT WORK. MORE ABOUT THE MAN ON A MISSION TO REVIVE WHAT WAS A DYING ORGANIZATION

Given the circumstances, the director of the AFJ has had to take many things in stride. Taking office in February of this year, on the cusp of lockdown, it wasn’t his intention to serve the duration of his contract during a pandemic. He’s definitely a man on a mission and I thought we should find out more about the man in charge, reviving the organization during a pandemic.

He grew up with a curiosity about the Caribbean. Living in Martinique, he had a clear view of the shores of St Lucia and Dominica. He wanted to know what life was like there, and if their lives were similar to his in Martinique. He also had a passion for the English-language. Some time around high school, with his passion for travel and English, he figured the logical solution to pursue both was to study International Relations. While studying at Sciences Po Bordeaux, his programme allowed him to study at UWI Mona for a year. Describing the experience as “eye-opening”, it solidified his identity as a Caribbean man – not just from Martinique or France but part of a region with a rich history and culture. He integrated into Jamaican society, finding the people to be welcoming and similar to his own. He truly felt at home. And this post offering the chance for him to return was not one he would let pass him by. Unfortunately, much like a diplomat, he won’t be staying long in one place. The contract itself lasts two years, which I imagine makes it difficult to implement long-term goals for the organization.

Ultimately, his personal mission is to strengthen ties between the French Caribbean and the rest of the Caribbean. History and politics have divided us to the point where the French Caribbean, while being a part of France, is not truly integrated with the rest of the region. Compounding the problem is that few people in Jamaica know about Martinique or the French Caribbean. Apparently it’s been said that Martinique is a part of Africa, something I couldn’t type with a straight face. The irony is that Martinicans know about Jamaica, our music and culture. So Lamartinière hopes to bridge this gap, exposing Jamaica to the French Caribbean. “France is not just Paris and those [other] beautiful cities but you have those places right next to you in the region where people also speak French and they have their own culture and its very interesting.”

IN HIS TWO-YEAR TENURE, HE INTENDS TO ACCOMPLISH SOME GOALS FOR THE ORGANIZATION. AND WE KNOW THAT I’LL BE WATCHING TO SEE IF AND HOW HE ACCOMPLISHES THEM.

During his two-year tenure he has goals for the organization. Acknowledging that the organization has faced difficult times over the past decade, he and his predecessor have been working to breathe life back into the organization. His primary goal is “to make people realize that there is a place in Jamaica where French culture is coming to life.” Second to that he hopes to extend the reach of the organization across Jamaica and encourage people outside of Jamaica to become interested in Jamaican culture. It would be fair to say that this goal is being met given that articles are being written about the organization in France, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Despite previous struggles, he is hoping that AFJ will ride out the financial strain brought on by the pandemic and come back stronger than ever. He also hopes that people will become more aware of the rich culture found in the French Caribbean islands and French Guiana, and become exposed to other parts of la Francophonie like Reunion and Quebec. And learn that Martinique is NOT in Africa.

THE AFJ AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION

An aspect of this interview that greatly interested me was the discussion of regional integration that AFJ has recently become involved in. The idea for this came from the Alliance Française in St Lucia a few years ago to create a network within the English-speaking Caribbean. Given our location, we all face the same challenges and opportunities and the thought was to face them together. This partnership has so far yielded tangible results, as we’ve seen with the Apéro and the 2020 Fête de la Musique, organized with the Latin American network of the Alliance Française. The hope is to continue fostering these relations during his tenure.

THE IFLE-CARICOM PROJECT

On the subject of regional integration and Caribbean relations I wanted him to briefly discuss the IFLE-Caricom project that AFJ is a partner in. This two-year programme was implemented by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the French Embassy of St Lucia and the French network of English-speaking Alliance Française. The concept was to promote French-language learning within Caricom through teachers, artists and entrepreneurs. Participants were able to meet and (hopefully) make regional connections. In the case of artists, their work was showcased on social media and a new language will help them introduce their work to new audiences. At the moment it is unconfirmed whether this initiative will be renewed.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE AFJ?

Everything spoken about in this interview is the past and the present, so I had to close this interview on what we can expect from AFJ in the near future. There are plans for a free online session with a chef followed by subscriber-based French cooking lessons. There will also be more events showcasing French Caribbean culture, such as more French Creole lessons and zouk performances. They’ve also just launched TEF prep classes for Canadian migration. And hopefully, if we return to face-to-face gatherings, we can expect a film festival.

I truly hope that this interview has either introduced you to or provided you with more information on the AFJ. Be encouraged to follow them on IG @af_jamaica and be involved in some way with the organization.