'Les années de braise'1 reconsidered: literary representations of Mauritian independence, fifty years on. Issue 2 (3rd July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Waters, Julia
• Is Part Of: South Asian diaspora. Volume 10:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 75
• Page End: 90
• Publication Date: 2018-07-03
• Subjects: Mauritian literature -- independence -- inter-ethnic violence -- nation-building; South Asian diaspora -- Periodicals; South Asians -- Foreign countries -- Periodicals; South Asians -- Ethnic identity -- Periodicals; South Asia -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; South Asia -- Emigration and immigration -- Periodicals; 305.891405
• DOI: 10.1080/19438192.2018.1460913
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1943-8192

Abstract

ABSTRACT: On 12 March 1968, Mauritius celebrated independence from Great Britain. This article explores how the independence period is represented, fifty years later, in a selection of recent Mauritian novels. Focusing upon long-silenced inter-ethnic tensions, inequalities and exclusions, these twenty-first-century fictional works deconstruct dominant celebratory narratives of Mauritius's multicultural 'rainbow nation.' By retrospectively revealing cracks in the nation's harmonious façade, the article argues, the novels' counter-discursive narratives of the nation's foundation play an important part in an ongoing, forward-looking project of nation-building that envisages more inclusive, non-ethnic forms of 'unity in diversity.'