Le Malaise Créole: Ethinic Identity In Mauritius

257 Pages·2006·1.853 MB·English

by  Rosabelle Boswell

LE MALAISE CRÉOLE
New Directions in Anthropology
General Editor: Jacqueline Waldren, Institute of Social Anthropology,
University of Oxford
Volume 1 Coping with Tourists: European Volume 15 Defiance and Compliance:
Reactions to Mass Tourism Negotiating Gender in Low-Income
Edited by Jeremy Boissevain Cairo
Volume 2 A Sentimental Economy: Commodity Heba Aziz Morsi El-Kholy
and Community in Rural Ireland Volume 16 Troubles with Turtles: Cultural
Carles Salazar Understandings of the Environment
on a Greek Island
Volume 3 Insiders and Outsiders: Paradise and
Dimitrios Theodossopoulos
Reality in Mallorca
Volume 17 Rebordering the Mediterranean:
Jacqueline Waldren
Boundaries and Citizenship in
Volume 4 The Hegemonic Male: Masculinity
Southern Europe
in a Portuguese Town
Liliana Suarez-Navaz
Miguel Vale de Almeida
Volume 18 The Bounded Field: Localism and
Volume 5 Communities of Faith: Sectarianism, Local Identity in an Italian Alpine
Identity, and Social Change on a Valley
Danish Island Jaro Stacul
Andrew S. Buckser Volume 19 Foundations of National Identity:
Volume 6 After Socialism: Land Reform and From Catalonia to Europe
Rural Social Change in Eastern Josep Llobera
Europe Volume 20 Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory
Edited by Ray Abrahams and the Recovery of Missing Persons
Volume 7 Immigrants and Bureaucrats: in Cyprus
Ethiopians in an Israeli Absorption Paul Sant Cassia
Center Volume 21 Who Owns the Past? The Politics of
Esther Hertzog Time in a ‘Model’ Bulgarian Village
Deema Kaneff
Volume 8 A Venetian Island: Environment,
Volume 22 An Earth-Colored Sea: “Race,”
History and Change in Burano
Culture, and the Politics of Identity
Lidia Sciama
in the Postcolonial Portuguese-
Volume 9 Recalling the Belgian Congo:
Speaking World
Conversations and Introspection
Miguel Vale de Almeida
Marie-Bénédicte Dembour
Volume 23 Science, Magic and Religion: The
Volume 10 Mastering Soldiers: Conflict, Ritual Process of Museum Magic
Emotions, and the Enemy in an Edited by Mary Bouquet and
Israeli Military Unit Nuno Porto
Eyal Ben-Ari Volume 24 Crossing European Boundaries:
Volume 11 The Great Immigration: Russian Beyond Conventional Geographical
Jews in Israel Categories
Dina Siegel Edited by Jaro Stacul, Christina
Volume 12 Morals of Legitimacy: Between Moutsou and Helen Kopnina
Agency and System Volume 25 Documenting Transnational
Edited by Italo Pardo Migration: Jordanian Men Working
and Studying in Europe, Asia and
Volume 13 Academic Anthropology and the
North America
Museum: Back to the Future
Richard Antoun
Edited by Mary Bouquet
Volume 26 Le Malaise Créole: Ethnic Identity
Volume 14 Simulated Dreams: Israeli Youth and
in Mauritius
Virtual Zionism
Rosabelle Boswell
Haim Hazan
LL MM CC
EE AALLAAIISSEE RRÉÉOOLLEE
(cid:1)
Ethnic Identity in Mauritius
Rosabelle Boswell
Berghahn Books
New York • Oxford
First published in 2006 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2006 Rosabelle Boswell
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without
the written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Almeida, Miguel Vale de.
[Mar da cor da terra. English]
An earth-colored sea : “race,” culture, and the politics of identity in the postcolonial
Portuguese-speaking world / Miguel Vale de Almeida.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57181-607-0 (alk. paper)
1. Portuguese--Foreign countries--History. 2. Ethnicity--Portuguese-speaking countries.
3. Blacks--Race identity--Brazil. 4. Portuguese--Trinidad and Tobago--Ethnic identity.
5.Pluralism (Social sciences) 6. Race awareness. 7. Group identity--East Timor. 8. Group
identity--Portugal. 9. Portuguese-speaking countries--Race relations. I. Title.
DP534.5.A46 2003
305.86'9--dc21 2003052193
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
Printed in the United States on acid-free paper
ISBN 1-84545-075-2 hardback
C
ONTENTS
(cid:1)
List of Illustrations vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Maps xi
Acknowledgements xv
Preface xvii
1. Unravelling le malaise Créole 1
2. Anthropology at ‘Home’ 15
3. Defining Creoles 41
4. Dignity and Prestige in Flacq 77
5. Re-viewing the Past in Karina 105
6. Imagining Homelands in Roche Bois and the River Camp 135
7. Negotiating Landscapes in Chamarel and Le Morne 169
8. Shifting Selves 205
Bibliography 213
Index 233

L I
IST OF LLUSTRATIONS
(cid:1)
Maps
1. Map of the Indian Ocean, Showing Mauritius. xi
2. Flacq. xii
3. Port Louis, Showing Roche Bois. xii
4. The Black River District, Showing Chamarel and Le Morne Villages. xiii
Figures
1. The Creoles of Mauritius and Class Differentiation among the
‘Black’ Creoles. 47
2. A Creole Shoe-mender in Flacq. 60
3. The Ravanne, a Traditional Instrument Used in Composing Sega. 63
4. Légions de Marie(Legions of Mary). 74
5. Hare Krishna Vendors Close to the Bus Depot in 1999. 82
6. Women Labourers Leaving an Estate after Working for the Day. 83
7. A Creole Business Owner and His Son in Flacq. 97
8. ‘We Are a God-fearing People’: Ingrid and the Shrine in Her Yard. 117
9. School Children from Karina. 119
10. Clency and His Panel-beating Business. 125
vii
List of Illustrations
11. The River Camp. 139
12. Africa, Ethiopia and Black America on the Wall. 152
13. Taking Education Seriously: A Mother Collects Her Children from
School. 162
14. A Soup Table in Roche Bois. 163
15. The March against Prostitution and Drugs in Roche Bois. 163
16. A View of the Black River Gorges. 173
17. Noellie and Her Daughter. 174
18. Entrepreneurs in Chamarel. 178
19. Stephano and His Délices de France. 191
20. Mount Le Morne as Seen from the Village and the Hotel Side. 196
21. Casiers(Fish-traps) Started and Completed. 200
viii
L A
IST OF BBREVIATIONS
(cid:1)
BIOT British Indian Ocean Territory
BJP Baharatiya Janata Party
CPE Certificate of Primary Education
CSO Central Statistical Office
EPZ Export Processing Zone
MLF Mouvement Liberasyon Fam
MMM Mouvement Militant Mauricien
MSM Mouvement Socialiste Mauricien
NGAP National Gender Action Plan
OF Organisation Fraternel
PMSD Parti Mauricien Sociale Democrate
PTr Parti Travailliste
RSS Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
SC Secondary Certificate of Education
VOH Voice of Hindu
ix