26-31 August, 1994
Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moka, Mauritius

THE CONCEPT OF MAURITIAN STUDIES

The Mahatma Gandhi Institute was founded in 1970 by the Government of
Mauritius in collaboration with the Indian Government. The institute aims
to provide the academic and cultural basis for the promotion,
consolidation, and dissemination of the Indian traditions and contribute to
a developing Mauritian culture by creating an awareness of the richness of
the Mauritian heritage and by providing a forum for a creative interaction
between its diverse components. Besides this, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute
develops teaching and research programmes in the focal areas of the
institute, namely Indian Studies, Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Mauritian
Studies, and Chinese Studies, thus contributing to an extension of the
frontier of the Tertiary Education Institution Network.

By U. Bissoondoyal and P. Dhayam

The Mahatma Gandhi Institute today comprises the faculty of Indian Studies,
faculty of Indian Music and Fine Arts, and the Centre of Mauritian and
Other Area Studies. Since 1984, in an attempt to create an awareness of the
richness of the world heritage of which Mauritius is the beneficiary, the
Mahatma Gandhi Institute has been organizing conferences on events and
subjects that have had an over-riding effect on Mauritian society. The
topics of these conferences have been: Indian Labour Immigration (1984),
Slavery in the South-West of the Indian Ocean (1985), L'Ile Maurice et La
R‚volution Fran‡aise (1989), Maintenance of Indian Languages and Culture
Abroad (1994).
Although research in Mauritian Studies had been under way for some time, an
urgent need was felt to define its areas of action, establish it as an area
of research, and eventually of teaching, and to network the research action
of the institutions in Mauritius as well as abroad. The seminar on the
'Concept of Mauritian Studies' that was held August 26-31, 1994 was
attended by scholars from the U.S.A., France, India, the Netherlands,
Australia, La R‚union, South Africa, Trinidad, and more than thirty
Mauritian researchers. The seminar offered a platform for scholars to make
their scientific contribution and give practical suggestions for the
definition and organization of Mauritian Studies. At the logistical level a
plea was made for more national and international cooperation between
various scholars and institutions working on the Indian Ocean in general
and Mauritius in particular.

REGIONAL APPROACH
Defining and developing Mauritian Studies as an Area Studies Programme
poses a lot of problems because it is extremely difficult to limit the
scope of the programme at a regional level since the origin of the
population of Mauritius is very diverse. It is a creation of European
hegemonic powers. The Dutch, French, and English imported African and
Malagasy slaves as well as indentured labourers from India and China. Since
the population of Mauritius thus has its origin on four continents it is
not advisable to limit Mauritian Studies to a certain region. 
Professor Cowan from the University of California held an expos‚ on the
experience with the organization of American Studies in the United States,
since the ancestors of the Americans are just as diverse as those of the
Mauritians. He promoted the idea of structuring Mauritian Studies according
to an thematic programme instead of a regional one. The same plea was made
by Professor Haraksingh of the University of the West Indies. He spoke of
the evolution of Caribbean Studies and brought forward a comparative
reference for Mauritian Studies. In this light, he gave the example of the
striking similarities in history and current composition of the Trinidadian
and Mauritian population. 
Professor Kenneth McPherson, executive director of the Indian Ocean Centre
for Peace Studies also said he was aware of the problems of confining
Mauritian Studies in a narrow regional manner. Despite this, he pointed out
the need to integrate Mauritius more into Indian Ocean Studies. This would
not only eliminate the relatively isolated position of Mauritius, but also
aid more regional cooperation between the islands in the South-West Indian
Ocean. The study of Mauritius can also lead to a better understanding of
the processes of globalization. 
Globalization and Mauritius was also the theme of the lecture of Professor
Houbert of the University of Aberdeen. He sees the population of Mauritius
as a visualization of globalization: Mauritius is universally acclaimed for
its modern democratic state and its capitalistic mode of production. The
modern state as part of the worldwide system of states and the global reach
of capitalism are the two outstanding features of the modern world. Unlike
the other countries surrounding the Indian Ocean, Mauritius is entirely a
creation of the process of globalization.

THEMES OF MAURITIAN STUDIES
In different lectures scholars made clear that a regional organization of
Mauritian Studies did not seem useful. A thematic approach appears more
fruitful. Many themes were already discussed during the seminar. As there
were papers on: languages, economy, history, literature, the press,
development, slavery, legacy of slavery, administration, politics,
education, health, immigration/migration, anthropology, geography, and
related fields. In the concluding formal and informal sessions, the
scholars agreed on the following two themes as guiding lines for developing
an agenda for future research on Mauritius:
Research into the colonial history of Mauritius, focusing not only on the
immigration history of Indian and Chinese indentured labourers but also on
the African past: the slave trade and slavery. Another focal point of
future studies will be research into the dynamics of cultural/ethnic
identities in the specific plural context of Mauritius. During the Seminar
many local scholars presented their research on this theme. In this area of
research it is particularly important to develop a research approach from a
interdisciplinary level: historians, linguists, and anthropologists should
work together to be able to grasp the meaning and the political and social
implications of Mauritius as a multi-cultural society fully.

Mr U. Bissoondoyal and Mr P. Dhayam are respectively the director and the
administrative officer at the Mahatma Ghandi institute