DOCSLIB.ORG

'The Most Cosmopolitan Island Under the Sun'

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
'The Most Cosmopolitan Island Under the Sun' ‘The Most Cosmopolitan Island under the Sun’? Negotiating Ethnicity and Nationhood in Everyday Mauritius Reena Jane Dobson Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Cultural Research University of Western Sydney December 2009 The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. Reena Dobson Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my grandmother, my Nani, whose life could not have been more different from my own. I will always be grateful that I was able to grow up knowing her. I also dedicate this thesis to my parents, whose interest, support and encouragement never wavered, and who were always there to share stories and memories and to help make the roots clearer. Acknowledgements At the tail end of a thesis journey which has involved entangled routes and roots, I would like to express my deepest and most heartfelt thanks to my wonderful partner, Simon White, who has been living the journey with me. His passionate approach to life has been a constant inspiration. He introduced me to good music, he reminded me to breathe, he tiptoed tactfully around as I sat in writing mode, he made me laugh when I wanted to cry, and he celebrated every writing victory – large and small – with me. I am deeply indebted to my brilliant supervisors, Associate Professor Greg Noble, Dr Zoë Sofoulis and Associate Professor Brett Neilson, who have always been ready with intellectual encouragement and inspiring advice. Brett provided valuable guidance to the central chapters which has resulted in a tighter, much stronger core. Zoë has been an endless well of enthusiasm and energy; her standing offers of chocolate, her insightful comments and sharp editing pen were invaluable in the final write-up stages. My special thanks to Greg, who read through countless drafts and was always able to frame his comments incisively yet positively (a skill I shall always be grateful for); he always knew when to push, when to stand back, and what to say to talk me off (metaphorical) ledges. He has been an unfailingly generous, supportive and patient supervisor all the way through. My mille remerciements to my family – mo mama ek mo papa, mo frère Roy Julan, mo belle-sœur Claudia Maria, ek mo deux zolie ti nieces, Antonia Kriani ek Tabea Josephine. Merci pou tou – mo pa kapav kwar mon fini! I also want to thank my extended family and friends in Mauritius. My deepest gratitude to my Mowsis, Gomutty, Ootra, Anila and Devi, who hosted me so generously and always ensured I got more than my fair share of Pearona, puris, bhajias, and zambalaks. My uncles, aunts, cousins and friends generously introduced me into their networks and made my fieldwork a lot easier than it would have otherwise been. My heart-felt thanks to my cousin, Veenaya Nosib, who answered, by email, phone and text, all manner of odd questions with endless good-humour and patience; and also to my Mamou, Dan Madhoo, who, often at very short notice, took numerous terrific photographs for me. I also want to thank my Mowsa Kripaloo who passed away in 2001, and whose gentle spirit and kindness I will always remember. My warmest thanks to my adopted family on the East coast – to Dhyana and Roger, to Trevor, Chemène, Ryan and Ben, and to Peter, thank you from the bottom of my heart for welcoming me into your homes, for helping make Sydney feel like home, and for asking (and not asking!) how the writing was going. The Centre for Cultural Research offered a supportive and stimulating research environment that I am grateful to have been a part of. But I am also grateful to CCR for being such a generous-minded community. I would like to thank in particular, Professor Kay Anderson, who, at a time when her office hours were extremely limited, still found the time to meet with me for regular chats about my research. Thank you also to Professor Ien Ang too, who was always able to make time to chat and offer intellectual advice. I would like to additionally thank Professor Bob Hodge, Professor David Rowe, Dr Fiona Cameron, Associate Professor Elaine Lally, Michelle Kelly and Tulika Dubey who have all offered encouragement, writing advice and a sympathetic ear over the years. And very importantly, I would like to thank Maree O’Neill, CCR Executive Officer, who has been an incredibly supportive friend. No matter how busy she was, she always had time to listen. Finally, I would also like to express my grateful thanks to all my interviewees who all kindly took time out of their busy lives and work schedules to fit me in. I would also especially like to thank those informants who pushed interviews into dialogues with frankness, warmth and generosity, and who welcomed me into their lives without hesitation. Table of Contents List of Tables iii List of Figures iii Abstract v Glossary of Terms and Acronyms vii Introduction: ‘The Most Cosmopolitan Island under the Sun’? 1 Mise-en-Scène: Introduction 1 Situating Mauritius 3 Multicultural, Multiculturalism, Cosmopolitanism: Points of Engagement 9 Doing Auto/Ethnography: Fieldwork and Methodology 15 Thesis Directions 19 1. Making Mauritius: From Territory to Nationhood 22 Introduction 22 Imagining Territories, Imagining Nations 24 Initial Discoveries and Settlements 27 Ile de France: French Settlement (1715-1810) 29 British-Occupied Mauritius (1810-1968) 38 Between Ethnicity and Nationhood: The Lead-up to Independence 48 Conclusion 55 2. The Ethnic Imaginary in Everyday Mauritius 57 Introduction 57 The Everyday 59 Identity, Ethnicity, Otherness 60 The Social Imaginary 63 The Ethnic Imaginary 67 Mental Maps: Imagining a Multi-Ethnic Existence 68 Looking and Acting the Part: Performing and Classifying Ethnicity 76 Conclusion 98 3. Negotiating Ethnicity in Everyday Mauritius 100 Introduction 100 Articulations Around Ethnicity: Language and Labels 101 Overlooking Ethnicity: Sidesteps and Transgressions 123 Conclusion 141 i 4. Towards Mauritianité: Ethnicity and Nationhood 143 Introduction 143 Nations, Nation-States and Nationalisms 148 Mauritian Nationalism: A Moral Expectation 152 Mauritianité: Negotiating the Ethnic and the National 157 Laissez-Faire Mauritianité 159 Swaying Mauritianité 172 Fractious Mauritianité 182 Conclusion 196 5. L’Affaire Kaya 198 Introduction 198 Creole Malaise 199 Sega, Kaya and Seggae 204 The Death of Kaya and After – A Chronology of Events 210 Amplification of the Ethnic Imaginary 224 The (Un)Resolution of Mauritianité 234 Conclusion 244 Conclusion 246 A Moment of Multi-Ethnicity 246 Negotiating (Multi)Ethnicity and Nationhood 247 Further Investigations of Mauritian Cosmopolitanism 259 ‘The Most Cosmopolitan Island under the Sun’? 261 Bibliography 262 ii List of Tables Table 1: Ethnic group nicknames 107 Table 2: Ethnic group stereotypes 110 Table 3: Public holidays in Mauritius 165 Table 4: Official Mauritius national anthem: Motherland 180 Table 5: Kreol version of the Mauritius national anthem 180 Table 6: Hindi version of the Mauritius national anthem 181 Table 7: Summary of Mauritius banknotes and their illustrations 187 List of Figures Figure 1: Mauritius Tourism Image 1 Figure 2: Map of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean 4 Figure 3: Map of Mauritius 4 Figure 4: Pieter Both Mountain 22 Figure 5: Eriksen’s taxonomy of Mauritian ethnicities 71 Figure 6: Author’s childhood mental map 73 Figure 7: Maha Shivaratri Procession 91 Figure 8: Pilgrims carrying Kavadees during Thaipoosam Cavedee 93 Figure 9: A popular house colour combination: white with red accents 97 Figure 10: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Samadhi 146 Figure 11: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam national (lotus) memorial 146 Figure 12: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam lotus monument with its memorialised message in English, Chinese, Hindi and French 147 Figure 13: Visibility of the ocean from inland 156 Figure 14: Year-at-a-glance 2006 calendar listing public holidays 167 Figure 15: Houses flying the Mauritian flag for National Day 2009 170 Figure 16: National flags and banners on display for National Day 2009 171 Figure 17: Images of Mauritius banknotes 188 Figure 18: The order of English, Tamil, then Hindi scripts on banknotes 191 Figure 19: 1999 banknotes with the Tamil and Hindi scripts swapped around 192 Figure 20: Traditional Sega instruments: ravanne, maravanne and triangle 206 Figure 21: Sega dancers 207 Figure 22: Kaya the singer 210 Figure 23: Scenes of disturbances on MBC news Monday 22 February 1999 215 iii Figure 24: Franco-Réunionnais, Dr Jean-Paul Ramstein, invited to carry out the counter-autopsy on Kaya 217 Figure 25: Damages done to a commercial complex in Candos 219 Figure 26: Scene of normality in Port Louis 221 Figure 27: Volcanic rocks used as road obstructions 221 Figure 28: The Chaîne d’amitié during the Rallye pour L’Avenir 222 Figure 29: A child places a bouquet of flowers in a map of Mauritius 223 Figure 30: Kaya’s body, featuring symbols of Rastafarianism and bandages 225 Figure 31: Thousands gather to pay their respects at Roche Bois stadium 225 Figure 32: Rastafarian images and symbols were on display during the funeral procession 226 Figure 33: Fusion of Rastafarian symbols in a Christian funeral ceremony 227 Figure 34: ‘Functionally invisible’ national flags at Kaya’s funeral ceremony 229 Figure 35: Asserting Laissez-Faire Mauritianité after the Kaya Affair 241 Figure 36: A multi-ethnic moment 244 Figure 37: ‘Burgers King’ sign 247 iv Abstract The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is an intensely multicultural island space. A history of settlement arising out of colonisation, slavery, indentured labour and trade has resulted in a contemporary nation-state that is ethnically and cultural diverse.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Family History Mauritius Twocol
    Our Ancestors from Mauritius Paul Francis, 2010 This is the story of our ancestors who came from Mauritius. 1 Early Days Mauritius had been uninhabited prior to The story of our Mauritian ancestors the arrival of the first European settlers. th starts on the 9 of April 1729. After a Its dense forests had been roamed by five month journey from St Malo in dodos, their close relation the solitaire, France, the wooden sailing ship “Royal and by tortoises so large that eight Philip” was at last about to arrive in people could stand on the back of one. Mauritius (then known as the Ile de All these had, however, been wiped out France). On board were the first 30 by the Dutch, who had established a volunteer French settlers, on their way number of abortive colonies on the to new lives in the new colony. And island during the seventeenth century, amongst them was Jean Toussaint Jocet before abandoning the island in 1710. de la Porte, his wife Jeanne Thérèse They had left behind feral monkeys and Thomas, and their two young children, rats. Without natural predators, the rats aged three and five. had overrun the island and grown to the size of rabbits. The colony on Ile de France was only Native Forests of Mauritius. eight years old. It was a private sector colony – established by the French East In 1729, when Jean and Jeanne arrived, India Company to act as a base for their the colony had about 100 French settlers trading ships in the Indian Ocean.
    [Show full text]
  • L'histoire D'un Combat
    L’histoire d’un combat MMM 1969 - 1983 En hommage à ces milliers de militants anonymes pour qui, toujours, la lutte continue... Matraqué par la Riot Unit lors d'une grève au ga- rage de l'UBS, à Bell Village, en août 1971, Paul Béren- ger, le visage en- sanglanté, sort de la Cour de 2ème Division. CHAPITRE I La lutte recommence E passé est le phare qui éclaire l'avenir. C'est pourquoi les L Mauriciens doivent en prendre connaissance pour mieux maîtriser leur destin. Le passé du Mouvement Militant Mauricien est indissociable de la lutte des travailleurs, ceux des champs, des usines et des bureaux, depuis près de 14 ans. Passé combien glorieux! C'est un passé marqué par le sceau indélébile d'une nouvelle force, jeune et dynamique, qui a donné à un pays, hier déses- péré, des raisons pour combattre, qui a combattu avec acharne-: ment pour des idées nouvelles et généreuses — qui a peut-être commis des erreurs — mais qui, par-dessus tout, a voulu d'une île Maurice plus juste, plus humaine et plus fraternelle. En septembre 1969 naissait le Mouvement Militant Mauricien M.M.M.). Afin que l'histoire de Maurice s'accomplisse. Afin de reprendre la lutte menée en d'autres temps par Anqetil, Rozemont, Pandit Sahadeo, Curé et d'autres Mauriciens socialistes. Pour le M.M.M., tout commence par le Club des Étudiants qui deviendra, en une décennie, la plus grande force politique nationale. Tout commence par ce jeune homme timide qui, au fil des années, saura faire naître de si grandes espérances dans le coeur de la nation.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rock, an Island: Exploring the Independence of African Island
    A Rock, an Island: Exploring the independence of African Island Nations in the Indian Ocean By Alexander Rijpma Student Number: s1501143 E-mail: [email protected] Word Count: 13,848 s1501143 Introduction: A vast majority of African countries gained their independence in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, with over 30 countries gaining independence in quick succession in the six year period between 1956 and 1962 alone (Boddy-Evans, 2018). The year 1960 in particular was a significant landmark in the history of decolonisation as, in that year alone, 17 African countries gained independence (Talton, 2011). However, in the vast literature that exists detailing this period of decolonisation, very little is written about the African island nations of Mauritius and The Seychelles. These two nations lie very close together in the Indian Ocean, east of the African mainland, and have similar sizes and population densities, not to mention cultural similarities in their customs, language and ethnic makeup. Despite the fact that these countries are both included in the African Union, they are rarely treated in literature regarding African independence as being part of the decolonisation process at all. This is not, in itself, that surprising given that there is generally little academic literature to be found on states on the periphery like these, and this is particularly true for states on the periphery of the African continent. That being said, it is important that we attempt to curb this (lack of) practice by shifting our attention (and our research) to countries like the Seychelles and Mauritius, that exist largely in the periphery.
    [Show full text]
  • Muslim Women in the UK and Bosnia: Religious Identities in Contrasting Contexts Sanja Bilic Phd the University of York Centre Fo
    Muslim Women in the UK and Bosnia: Religious Identities in Contrasting Contexts Sanja Bilic PhD The University of York Centre for Women’s Studies September, 2013 Abstract This thesis explores Muslim women’s religious identities and the processes through which they construct and narrate these identities by comparing Bosnian and UK Muslim women. Disproportionate political and media attention on Muslim women in Europe has in turn prompted an increase in academic interest. However, most academic research neglects the experiences of the indigenous European Muslim women thereby maintaining the image of the foreign ‘other’. This research forges a more inclusive approach by considering the views of indigenous European Muslim women. The study is based on interviews with 20 Muslim women, four focus groups and observation of the activities of three Muslim women’s organisations. I subscribe to a feminist perspective where participants’ voices are privileged and, since I belong to both communities, the complexities of my positionality were constantly reflected upon during the course of the research. My analysis is organised around three main themes that emerged from my participants’ accounts of religious identity: family life, hijab and women’s organisations. Family was identified as an important factor in these women’s early perceptions of Islam. However, violent events – the war in Bosnia and the effects of 9/11 and 7/7 in the UK – affected women’s reflections on what it means to be a Muslim woman in Europe, initiating independent re-evaluation of religious identity. This process was transformative, often resulting in a decision to wear the hijab and/or to seek out spaces that encourage a positive sense of Muslim identity such as women’s organisations.
    [Show full text]
  • Marta Oracz Mauritius — the Paradise Island?
    Marta Oracz Mauritius — the Paradise Island? Romanica Silesiana 10, 324-336 2015 MARTA ORACZ University of Silesia Mauritius — the Paradise Island? ABSTRACT: The article interprets the novel There is a Tide by Lindsey Collen against the back‑ ground of her article “Another Side of Paradise” and in the perspective of the political history of Mauritius. Both in the article and in the novel the central image is that of Mauritius as a paradise island, There is a Tide evoking the edenic imagery of Bernardin de Saint‑Pierres’s novel Paul and Virginia. In Saint‑Pierre’s utopian society there are neither ethnic nor class antagonisms. The idea of Mauritius as a Paradise island, where neither class nor ethnic struggles disrupt the ideal harmony, is questioned by Lindsey Collen. Mauritius, as it is presented to the reader of There is a Tide, turns out to be a place where people are divided along ethnic lines and along class lines, both divisions making the image of the island state in Collen’s novel contradict the view of Mauritius presented in de Saint‑Pierre’s Paul and Virginia. KEY WORDS: Mauritius, paradise island, ethnicity, class, antagonisms Introduction Mauritius, a former French and afterwards a British colony, is a multicultural island country, about 2,000 kilometers off the eastern coast of southern Africa; with its mosaic of nations and its geographical location, Mauritius has become today an attractive tourist destination. In tourist guide books it is presented as an idyllic exotic island. “The edenic imagery of the island that is recreated in tourist brochures of this day,” Felicity Hand explains, has its origin in French literature; Mauritius as “the exotic paradise” was presented first by Bernardin de Saint ‑Pierre in his novel Paul and Virginia (HAND, 2010: 1).
    [Show full text]
  • First Commemorative Platinum Coin of Mauritius
    Rundheersing Bheenick: First commemorative platinum coin of Mauritius Address by Mr Rundheersing Bheenick, Governor of the Bank of Mauritius, on the occasion of the Launching Ceremony of the first commemorative platinum coin of the “Father of the Nation − Platinum Series”, Port-Louis, 30 October 2009. * * * Life has not been treating Central Bankers at all well since Lehman Brothers went belly-up. Those who found themselves at the epicentre of this perfect storm have been doing a creditable job, keeping the global economy on an even keel. The economic jargon has been much enriched with such exotic terms as toxic assets, TARP, and quantitative easing. There was even a brief period when banking ran the risk of once again becoming – one of the less reputable professions! Tonight, as I welcome you all to the Bank, we are putting these concerns aside. Tonight, I am exercising one of the powers, and indeed, one of the great privileges, of being Governor of a central bank, by issuing a new coin. I am the only person in this country with the license to do that. If anyone else here has a go, he goes straight to jail. So, thank you all for being with us tonight. And a very special “thank you” to our Prime Minister, Dr the Honourable Navinchandra Ramgoolam, for having agreed to officiate at this launching ceremony. We have some special overseas guests tonight and I extend a very special welcome to my fellow-Governors and Deputy Governors from COMESA Central Banks, to the Commissioner of Economic Affairs of the African Union Commission, to the Secretary-General of the Central Bank Governance Forum at the Bank for International Settlements, and to the members of the IMF Article lV consultation.
    [Show full text]
  • Contact Languages Around the World and Their Levels of Endangerment
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa Vol. 12 (2018), pp. 53–79 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24764 Revised Version Received: 23 Jan 2017 Contact languages around the world and their levels of endangerment Nala H. Lee National University of Singapore This paper provides an up-to-date report on the vitality or endangerment status of contact languages around the world, including pidgins, creoles, and mixed lan- guages. By utilizing information featured in the Endangered Languages Project and the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Languages online portals, 96 contact languages are assessed on the Language Endangerment Index, a method of assessment that is based on four factors including intergenerational transmission, absolute num- ber of speakers, speaker number trends, and domains of use. Results show that the contact languages are most at risk with respect to intergenerational transmis- sion and domains of use. This is explained by the social and historical nature of contact languages. Overall results further raise the concern that the proportion of pidgins, creoles and mixed languages at some level of risk is extremely high. Rea- sons are provided for why linguists should be concerned about the endangerment of these languages. 1. Introduction1 While the language endangerment problem has been generally well- highlighted in linguistics, the endangerment of contact languages has not received the same level of attention. Krauss (1992) postulates that at least half and possibly as much as 90% of the world’s languages will no longer be spoken by the end of the present century, while a more recent empirical study estimates a slightly less catas- trophic rate of loss, at one language every three months (Campbell et al.
    [Show full text]
  • The Best 25 the Best of the Best - 1995-2020 List of the Best for 25 Years in Each Category for Each Country
    1995-2020 The Best 25 The Best of The Best - 1995-2020 List of the Best for 25 years in each category for each country It includes a selection of the Best from two previous anniversary events - 12 years at Frankfurt Old Opera House - 20 years at Frankfurt Book Fair Theater - 25 years will be celebrated in Paris June 3-7 and China November 1-4 ALL past Best in the World are welcome at our events. The list below is a shortlist with a limited selection of excellent books mostly still available. Some have updated new editions. There is only one book per country in each category Countries Total = 106 Algeria to Zimbabwe 96 UN members, 6 Regions, 4 International organizations = Total 106 TRENDS THE CONTINENTS SHIFT The Best in the World By continents 1995-2019 1995-2009 France ........................11% .............. 13% ........... -2 Other Europe ..............38% ............. 44% ..........- 6 China .........................8% ............... 3% .......... + 5 Other Asia Pacific .......20% ............. 15% ......... + 5 Latin America .............11% ............... 5% .......... + 6 Anglo America ..............9% ............... 18% ...........- 9 Africa .......................... 3 ...................2 ........... + 1 Total _______________ 100% _______100% ______ The shift 2009-2019 in the Best in the World is clear, from the West to the East, from the North to the South. It reflects the investments in quality for the new middle class that buys cookbooks. The middle class is stagnating at best in the West and North, while rising fast in the East and South. Today 85% of the world middleclass is in Asia. Do read Factfulness by Hans Rosling, “a hopeful book about the potential for human progress” says President Barack Obama.
    [Show full text]
  • Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772 — 1833)
    UNIT – II SOCIAL THINKERS RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY (1772 — 1833) Introduction: Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a great socio-religious reformer. He was born in a Brahmin family on 10th May, 1772 at Radhanagar, in Hoogly district of Bengal (now West Bengal). Ramakanto Roy was his father. His mother’s name was Tarini. He was one of the key personalities of “Bengal Renaissance”. He is known as the “Father of Indian Renaissance”. He re- introduced the Vedic philosophies, particularly the Vedanta from the ancient Hindu texts of Upanishads. He made a successful attempt to modernize the Indian society. Life Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on 22 May 1772 in an orthodox Brahman family at Radhanagar in Bengal. Ram Mohan Roy’s early education included the study of Persian and Arabic at Patna where he read the Quran, the works of Sufi mystic poets and the Arabic translation of the works of Plato and Aristotle. In Benaras, he studied Sanskrit and read Vedas and Upnishads. Returning to his village, at the age of sixteen, he wrote a rational critique of Hindu idol worship. From 1803 to 1814, he worked for East India Company as the personal diwan first of Woodforde and then of Digby. In 1814, he resigned from his job and moved to Calcutta in order to devote his life to religious, social and political reforms. In November 1930, he sailed for England to be present there to counteract the possible nullification of the Act banning Sati. Ram Mohan Roy was given the title of ‘Raja’ by the titular Mughal Emperor of Delhi, Akbar II whose grievances the former was to present 1/5 before the British king.
    [Show full text]
  • Indo-Caribbean African-Isms
    Indo-Caribbean African-isms: Blackness in Guyana and South Africa By Andre Basheir A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Graduate Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Andre Basheir 2013 ii Indo-Caribbean African-ism: Blackness in Guyana and South Africa Master of Arts, 2013 Andre Basheir, Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, University of Toronto Abstract In an attempt to close the gaps between diaspora and regional studies an Afro-Asian comparative perspective on African and Indian identity will be explored in the countries of Guyana and South Africa. The overlying aim of the ethnographic research will be to see whether blackness can be used as a unifier to those belonging to enslaved and indentured diasporas. Comparisons will be made between the two race models of the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean worlds. A substantial portion will be set aside for a critique of the concept of Coolitude including commentary on V.S. Naipaul. Further, mixing, creolization, spirituality and the cultural politics of Black Consciousness, multiculturalism, and dreadlocks will be exemplified as AfroAsian encounters. iii Acknowledgements Firstly, I like to thank all the people in the areas I conducted my fieldwork (South Africa especially). I befriend many people who had enormous amounts of hospitality. Specifically, Mark, Bridgette and family as well as Omar, Pinky and Dr. Naidoo and family for letting me stay with them and truly going out of their way to help my research efforts. Many thanks goes to a large list of others that I interviewed.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Introduction Coralie walks quickly in a procession of about a hundred practitioners who wear the goddess’s bright saff ron color. Under the sound of beat- ing drums, in an atmosphere of enormous suspense, with the sun going down, they enter the temple ground where hundreds of spectators and cameras welcome them. The crowd is clustered around a large pit fi lled with glowing embers. Little space is left for the procession to pass be- tween the spectators and the pit. An incredible heat emanates from the coals, even when standing two meters away. I sit down among other women near the milk basin at the end of the fi re pit. Movements are hectic. I lose sight of Coralie. It is getting darker. The coals blaze in grey, orange, and red. The drums keep beating. Their rhythms increase the tension. The priest conducts the fi nal preparatory ceremonies. Where is Coralie now? How does she feel? With the drums accelerating, the priest is the fi rst to step barefoot on to the glowing embers. He crosses the fi eld in eight strides and steps into the milk basin. Now, one devotee after another walks across the fi re pit. From my spot, I do not see Cora- lie, but I see Amandine when she crosses the fi eld. Her steps are fast and her eyes are wide open. Fire walking is a popular Hindu festival in La Réunion, a French overseas department and remote region of the European Union in the Indian Ocean. Coralie and Amandine1 are eighteen and twenty-eight years old.
    [Show full text]
  • Mauritian Creole: an Introduction. INSTITUTION Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 048 598 AL 002 785 AUTHOR Goodman, Morris F.; And Others TITLE Mauritian Creole: An Introduction. INSTITUTION Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Peace Corps (Dept. of State) ,Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Apr 71 NOTE 355p. EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$13.16 DESCRIPTORS Audiolingual Me'aods, *Conversational Language Courses, Cultural Context, Glossaries, Grammar, *Instructional Materials, *Language Instruction, *Mauritian Creole, Pattern Drills (Language), Pronunciation Instruction IDENTIFIERS Microwave Approach ABSTRACT The format of this 23-unit course in Mauritian Creole is based on "microwave', cycles, each cycle beginning with the introduction of new material and ending with the use of that material in communication. A small amount of new material is introduced at a time (usually in a monolog, drill, or dialog) which, after a brief bit of practice is used for communication (in a communication activity or a dialog). An introductory section presents a short description of the history cf this form of Creole, considered the national language by many Mauritians, notes on the spelling, and suggestions to the student and the teacher: for using the material. Appended are additional dialogs and a section on pronunciation to provide practice on some of the aspects of Mauritian Creole likely to prove troublesome for American learners. An English-Mauritian Creole glossary concludes the text. (AMM) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO- DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG- INATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN- IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU- CATION FOSITION OR POLICY.
    [Show full text]