Barry Jean Ancelet (pseudonym Jean Arceneaux; born 1951)^[1][4] is a Cajun folklorist in Louisiana French and ethnomusicologist in Cajun music. He has written several books, and under his pseudonym Jean Arceneaux, including poetry and lyrics to songs.

Born in Church Point, in Acadia Parish, Louisiana on 25 June 1951.^[1] He graduated from high school in 1969. He then graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now named the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) with a Bachelor of Arts in French in 1974.^[2] He received a Master of Arts in folklore from Indiana University Bloomington in 1977.^[2] Ancelet obtained a doctorate in 1984 in Études Créoles (anthropology and linguistics) from the Université de Provence, (Aix-Marseille I) in Aix-en-Provence, France.^[2]

In 2005, Ancelet was named the Willis Granger and Tom Debaillon BORSF Professor of Francophone Studies at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

In 2008, he won the Américo Paredes Prize by the American Folklore Society.

In 2009, he was named Louisiana "Humanist of the Year" by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

• Ancelet, Barry (1984). Makers of Cajun Music: Musiciens Cadiens Et Creoles. Elemore Morgan (photography) (1 ed.). University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0292750791.
• Ancelet, Barry Jean (1989). Capitaine, Voyage Ton Flag: The Traditional Cajun Country Mardi Gras. Louisiana Life Series, Number 1. Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana. ISBN 978-0940984462.
• Ancelet, Barry Jean (1989). Cajun Music: Its Origins and Development. Louisiana Life Series, Number 2. University of Louisiana at Lafayette. ISBN 978-0940984486.
• Ancelet, Barry Jean; Edwards, Jay; Pitre, Glen (1991). Cajun Country. Folklife in the South Series. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-0878054671.
• Ancelet, Barry Jean (1994). Cajun and Creole Folktales: The French Oral Tradition of South Louisiana. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-0878057092.
• Ancelet, Barry Jean; Gould, Philip (2007). One Generation at a Time: Biography of a Cajun and Creole Music Festival. Benny Graeff (contribution), David Simpson (contribution). University of Louisiana at Lafayette. ISBN 978-1887366809.
• Gould, Philip; Hebert, Sandy; Ancelet, Barry Jean (1984). Les Cadiens D'Asteur: Today's Cajuns. Galerie Press Incorporated. ISBN 978-0917541001.

• Richard Guidry