Overview
The purpose of this communication is to present a brief overview of the evolution of Creole throughout the history of Mauritius, while taking into account the different phases of its settlement as well as its multicultural, multiconfessional and above all, multilingual character; this last trait being characterized by the fact that the country is, in various respects, both an English- and French-speaking country, while also having, in its sociolinguistic landscape, Indian and Chinese languages.
As an institutionalized field of academic research, Creole Studies has emerged in the second half of the 20th century an after, as a prominent feature of social sciences and humanities in several countries marked by European colonization and slave trade. This has also been the case for Mauritius, especially over the last two decades, where from an essentially oral language, Mauritian Creole has obtained official recognition since 2011 and has become a school subject since 2012.
Speaker
Prof. Arnaud Carpooran, University of Maurice
Prof. Arnaud Carpooran works at the University of Mauritius since 1993, where he holds a Personal Chair in French and Creole Studies. He has been the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities from July 2017 to September 2023. He is the author of various publications, including: Ile Maurice: des langues et des lois (L’Harmattan, 2003) and Diksioner Morisien (Editions le Printemps, 2009 and 2019) and co-author of Diksioner Kreol Rodrige (University of Mauritius-Rodrigues Regional Assembly, 2021). He is currently the Lead Investigator of an interinstitutionnal research project financed by the Higher Education Commission (Mauritius) and entitled: Promoting institutional democracy through Language Access in Kreol Repiblik Moris and Digital Innovation.