Sociological Spectrum, 20: 377–407, 2000 Copyright 2000 Taylor & Francis Ó 0273-2173 /00 $12.00 1 .00 SPECTACLES OF ETHNICITY: FESTIVALS AND THE COMMODIFICA TION OF ETHNIC CULTURE AMONG LOUISIANA CAJUNS CARL L. BANKSTON III Tulane University, New Orleans, Lousiana, USA JACQUES HENRY University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA Drawing on the example of the Louisiana Cajuns , an ethnic group that has been enjoying a wave of popular revival in recent years, this study suggests that changes in the perception of an ethnic identity are related to socioeconomic transformation . We identify the festival as a key aspect of the Cajun revival since the 1960s . An examination of the history , activities , and contemporary spatiotemporal organization of fes- tivals reveals similarities to other aspects of a society of mass consump- tion. Niche marketing, the structuring of recreation around the modern work week, and the establishment of personal identity through the pur- chase of symbolically rich commodities are all embodied in present -day Cajun festivals . At the same time, the consumption of ethnic commod- ities is linked by the consumers with a sense of tradition and descent from a mythic past. The festivals of southwestern Louisiana are, in this sense , ‘‘invented traditions’’ and, paradoxically , a measure of the assimi- lation of this particular ethnic group into American culture. What is an ethnic group? The Greek word eq noV , from which we derive our words ethnic and ethnicity, is often translated as nation in the older and etymological sense, a set of people who share a common peoplehood by virtue of birth and ancestry. Claims of descent, from Aeneas or African captives or the Acadian exiles, give ethnicity much of its emotional force and Received 8 November 1999; accepted 15 March 2000. Address correspondenceto Carl L. Bankston III, Department of Sociology, 220 Newcomb Hall, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, USA. Email: cbankst @mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu. 377