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Members of the Guadeloupean association Otantika. RFI / Corinne Binesti

Each year with the approach of the Christmas celebrations, French West Indians from overseas and mainland gather with family and friends to celebrate "Chanté Nwel", an emblematic West Indian tradition that punctuates the Advent period.

“ Chanté Nwel is an important moment when we get together to sing hymns. These songs are accompanied by music and dance. It is a way to honor the pre-Christmas period, but also a way to rediscover the link with our origins, ”explains Cathy, Guadeloupean and president of the Antillean association Otantika which promotes Guadeloupean culture.

If in Île-de-France, more than forty Caribbean associations participate in this event every year as December 24 approaches, in the overseas departments and particularly in Guadeloupe and Martinique, it is a institution.

Unusual hymns

A book of songs in hand, families sing the biblical texts. Songs declaimed in French evoking Mary or Jesus, but which at the time of the " ritournelle " - the refrain sung in Creole - deviate from the strict religious tradition. They take on a whole new meaning. After a first part evoking the sacred, the refrain gives free rein to mockery and puns. And we enjoy the sound of gwoka, a Guadeloupean drum, or of bèlè, Martinican percussion.

" We demystify the text," explains Toni Mango, a Creole professor. It is during the refrain that we allow ourselves to joke and make allusions to food, rum ... We let go. It is the passage to caricatures where religion is at that time really desacralized . "This is also what Yann from Martinique says:" The hymns are diverted with the presence of music, dance and celebration. It is the mixture of all these "flavors", of this interbreeding which makes these moments very joyful. "And to add:" In our West Indian culture, you can be very respectful, put on your best clothes, have respect for the sacred while allowing yourself the freedom to be less contained . "

Christian songs but African roots

If Christianity holds a major place in the West Indian community, African origins are just as important. " It's true that historically, Christianity was imposed on us ," says Toni. We have been evangelized by the black code which regulated the life of slaves in the French colonies. Then Christianity spread around the world. We have integrated it, accepted it, but also re-appropriated it. There is a practice a little different from our relationship with God. "

With Chanté Nwel, the Antillean community recreates, in Creole, something different, rooted and connected to Africa. " We transpose and integrate into these songs essential instruments such as gwoka or bèlè, drums with African origins, " explains Nathalie, Guadeloupean and member of the association Otentika.

These tones, these rhythms which evoke feelings are also translated by dance. " When our African ancestors were deported and landed in the West Indies, they brought with them a culture that remained ," says Cathy. Admittedly, we have developed traditions that are unique to us, but that remains rooted in our identity. "

For his part, Toune, who lives in the Paris suburbs, did not grow up in the Antilles. However, she says that this event allows her to better find her origins and to discover a culture, hers, which she knew little.

For now, if in overseas, during the festivals, the trunks of the palm trees are dressed in illuminations, in metropolitan France, the fir trees are sometimes snowy. However, on both sides, Chanté Nwel is lived intensely.

Also, a few days before Christmas, the Otantika association and its members rehearse hymns and choreographies for the evening of December 21. “ Everyone brings back a small thing to drink or eat, punctuates Nathalie. The goal is to be together to party . "