diaspora

Redefining the Identity of People of Indian Origin in Mauritius

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2.9K views

Rashmi Kapoor
Department of African Studies, University of Delhi -110007, India.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.16
[Article History: Received: 09 July 2023. Revised: 17 August 2023. Accepted: 18 August 2023. Published: 28 August 2023]
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Abstract

In the 19th century, Indian indentured labour went to Mauritius, facilitated by the European colonisers to accomplish their ambitious goal of dominating the world politically, economically and culturally. After the completion of the indenture period, Indians had little option but to stay in the new land as their zeal to return to India was sapped due to anticipated ostracisation by their respective communities. Despite the unique evolution of the identity and status of Indians in Mauritius, it has generated very little debate in academia. This article will attempt to understand whether the people of Indian origin in Mauritius can be termed as Indian diaspora at present or they have outgrown that status and evolved to attain an identity that can be defined as being ‘beyond Indian diaspora’. I argue that Indians in Mauritius were positioned in the wider Mauritian society in such a way that did not satisfy the criteria of them being referred to as diaspora, and, they have acquired a specific set of cultural, social and economic capital that brings them closer to being considered as Mauritian natives.

Keywords: diaspora, hybridity, ethnic identity, people of Indian origin, desi.
Sustainable Development Goals: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Citation: Kapoor, Rashmi. 2023. Redefining the identity of people of Indian origin in Mauritius. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.16

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Genre: Scholarly

Publisher: Orient Black Swan

Year of Publication: 2019

ISBN: 9789352876143

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewed by

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DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n1.10

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Jan Gresil S. Kahambing

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DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v11n2.02  

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The Mamanuas of Basey, Samar have been in an itinerant state since the 1950s. Their indigenous experience can be capped in the term ‘diaspora,’ which pictures their plight as dispersive habituation, moving from town to town away from their homeland. In a recent study which this paper hinges upon, the concept of diaspora can no longer work and is argued to imperatively function as a vanishing mediator so that indigeneity must come to mean as a constant identity of becoming. Following from such a theoretical lens, this paper delves again into the concept of ‘diaspora’ in the Mamanuan indigenous experience to argue further that its act of mediating functions as performative indigeneity.  To do this, the paper runs in three parts: first, it plots the Mamanuan diaspora experience; second, it briefly reiterates the core argument of diaspora as vanishing mediator; and finally, it theorizes on a concept of what Judith Butler calls ‘performative indigeneity’ that takes its form from the mediation of an indigenous diaspora experience.

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Received May 06, 2018; Revised September 29, 2018: Accepted October 27, 2018; Published October 29, 2018.

 

 

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Received August 15, 2018; Revised August 28, 2018: Accepted October 27, 2018; Published October 27, 2018.

 

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DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v8n3.21

Received May 16, 2016; Revised July 10, 2016; Accepted July 20, 2016; Published August 18, 2016

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