‘Les années de braise’ reconsidered: literary representations of Mauritian independence, fifty years on

Waters, J. (2018) ‘Les années de braise’ reconsidered: literary representations of Mauritian independence, fifty years on. South Asian Diaspora, 10 (2). pp. 75-90. ISSN 1943-8192 doi: 10.1080/19438192.2018.1460913

Abstract/Summary

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.’

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/76131
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/19438192.2018.1460913
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Literature and Languages > Languages and Cultures > French
Publisher	Taylor and Francis
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