‘Mwen enmé’w’ (I love you): Black Queer Women's Social Positioning in the French Caribbean

Situated amid work on gender, sexuality, popular culture, and creolistics, this article examines how Lycinaïs Jean, a zoukeuse and fusion artist, navigates identity construction as a woman who loves women (WLW) in the French Caribbean zoukscape. Through a discourse analysis of her social media posts, interviews, and music, the discussion shows how Lycinaïs strategically positions her songs as songs about universal love phenomena rather than queer love. Furthermore, it illustrates how she rejects labels associated with her sexuality, opting instead to navigate her identity similarly to the ideological construction of fè zanmi, where there is a focus on desire and everyday actions rather than identity. Lastly, this article examines the ways in which Lycinaïs employs French and French Creole to tap into the linguistic and ideological resources of both in order to navigate being a Black French Caribbean WLW in zouk.