The dynamics of language and ethnicity in Mauritius

Abstract

The link between ethnicity and language is well established in research but its contextual, perceptual and variable nature demands that this connection be re-examined in each attempt to understand a nation. This article is about Mauritius, a postcolonial context where French and British colonization has left salient features which continue to influence the dynamics around language and ethnicity in the country. By describing its demographic characteristics and its linguistic and political situation, I draw on the case of Kreol, the unofficial national language to examine the dynamics of language and ethnicity in a country where two colonial languages continue to dominate ideology. To compensate for the lack of appropriate theoretical framework in existing research on Mauritius, I use Homi Bhabha’s and Ashis Nandy’s postcolonial theoretical framework to uncover various forms of resistance and their influence on organizations.