The politics of language equilibrium in a multilingual society: Mauritius

Comparative Politics

Volumn 32, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 215-230

  Miles, William F S ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0005795067     PISSN: 00104159     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/422398     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. Brian Weinstein, "Language Problems in Francophone Africa," Language Problems and Language Planning, 4 (1980), 56.
2. Carol M. Eastman, Language Planning: An Introduction (San Francisco: Chandler and Sharp, 1983);
3. Joan Rubin and Bjorn H. Jernudd, eds., Can Language Be Planned? (Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1971).
4. Joshua A. Fishman, Charles Ferguson, and Jyotirindra Das Gupta, eds., Language Problems of Developing Nations (New York: Wiley, 1968);
5. Joshua A. Fishman, Language and Nationalism: Two Integrative Essays (Rowley: Newbury House, 1972).
6. William R. Beer and James E. Jacob, eds., Language Policy and National Unity (Totowa: Rowman and Allanheld, 1985).
7. David Laitin, Language Repertoires and State Construction in Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992);
8. David Laitin, "The Tower of Babel as a Coordination Game," American Political Science Review, 88 (1994), 622-34;
9. David Laitin, "The Game Theory of Language Regimes," International Political Science Review, 14 (1993), 227-39.
10. Brian Weinstein, "Language Strategists: Redefining Political Frontiers on the Basis of Linguistic Choices," World Politics, 31 (1979), 345-64.
11. Crawford Young, The Politics of Cultural Pluralism (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976), p. 40.
12. Brian Weinstein, The Civic Tongue: Political Consequences of Language Choices (New York: Longman, 1983).
13. See Toni Arno and Claude Orian, Ile Maurice: Une Société Multiraciale (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1986);
14. Jean-Claude Lau Thi Keng, Inter-Ethnicité et Politique à l'Ile Maurice (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1991);
15. Larry Bowman, Mauritius: Democracy and Development in the Indian Ocean (Boulder: Westview, 1991);
16. Bernard Lehembre, L'île Maurice (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1984);
17. Deborah Bräutigam, "Institutions, Economic Reform, and Democratic Consolidation in Mauritius," Comparative Politics, 30 (October 1997), 45-62;
18. Thomas Meisenhelder, "The Developmental State in Mauritius," Journal of Modern African Studies, 35 (1997), 279-97.
19. See Philip Baker, "The Language Situation in Mauritius with Special Reference to Mauritian Creole," African Language Review, 8 (1969), 73-97.
20. See Pierre-Marie Moorghen and Nicole Z. Domingue, "Multilingualism in Mauritius," International Journal of the Sociology of Languages, 34 (1982), 51-66;
21. Karl Noël, "Le Problème des langues à l'Ile Maurice," Culture Française (1972), 7-23;
22. Peter Stein, Connaissance et emploi des langues à l'Ile Maurice (Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag, 1982).
23. Daniel Baggioni and Didier de Robillard, Ile Maurice: Une Francophonie Paradoxale (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1990), pp. 46-47.
24. The 1990 census on language use referred to in Table 1 also includes as bilingual combinations of the "language usually spoken at home" Creole and Bhojpuri (48,579 persons), Creole and French (21,387), and Bhojpuri and Hindi (20,976).
25. Issa Asgarally, "Langues et Processus d'Inclusion/Exclusion," in Issa Asgarally, ed., Etude Pluridisciplinaire sur l'Exclusion à Maurice (Reduit: Presidency of the Republic of Mauritius, 1997), pp. 85-102.
26. Hindi was introduced on an experimental basis in 1935. In 1954 it was introduced, along with Urdu and Tamil, throughout the public school system. Telugu was added in 1958, Marathi in 1965, Mandarin Chinese in 1977, and Arabic in 1980. National Assembly (Government of Mauritius), Report of the Select Committee on the Certificate of Primary Education/Oriental Languages (Port Louis: Government House, 1993), 38-39.
27. See Rada Tirvassen, "Le Problème de la langue d'enseignement à Maurice: Une approche sociohistorique," in R. Chaudenson, ed., Langues, économie et développement, vol. 2 (Aix-en-Provence and Montmagny: Institut d'études créoles et francophones, 1990), pp. 183-99;
28. Rada Tirvassen, "Les Langues et l'éducation à l'Ile Maurice: Convergences et divergences," Etudes Créoles, 15 (1992), 63-80;
29. Rada Tirvassen, "De la réforme pédagogique à l'enseignement de l'écrit à l'Ile Maurice," Culture et Pédagogie, 10-11 (1993), 36-48.
30. "Today's ranking, pushed to a paroxysm, produces ferocious competition, hence private lessons, extra textbooks, robotic children, family stress....Ranking is a funnel with a veritable stranglehold at the end. Pitiless." Father Alaine Romaine, quoted in Le Mauricien, Nov. 16, 1995.
31. Even Bérenger, founding member of the MMM, admits that the Kreol issue was not the true reason for the alliance breakup. Interview, May 22, 1997. Jugnauth has never seen the necessity of formally granting Kreol official status. Interview, December 19, 1996.
32. See Thomas Hylland Eriksen, "Linguistic Diversity and the Quest for National Identity: The Case of Mauritius," Ethnic and Racial Studies, 13 (1990), esp. 12-14.
33. "Le Mouvement pour les langues orientales: Soutien à tout parti politique qui appliquera le rapport Dulloo," Le Mauricien, Nov. 20, 1995. The dodo bird evolved and became extinct on Mauritius and is still a national symbol.
34. "Comité des sages: Des initiatives communes afin d'empêcher la déchirure du tissu social mauricien," Le Mauricien, Nov. 9, 1995.
35. "M. Xavier-Luc Duval soumet sa démission au gouvernement," Le Mauricien, Nov. 10, 1995.
36. Interview, December 19, 1996.
37. Four additional seats were allocated under the constitution's "best loser" system, designed to balance ethnic-cum-party disparities, including two for the Mouvement Rodriguais and one each for the Parti Gaëtan Duval (PGD) and Hizbulla, and two other seats went to another party on the outlying island of Rodrigues (the Organization of the People of Rodgrigues). See Raj Mathur, "Parliamentary Representation of Minority Communities: The Mauritian Experience," Africa Today, 44 (1997).
38. "Pour l'inclusion des langues orientales, mais...," Le Mauricien, Nov. 10, 1995.
39. The relationship between the English and French languages is another important component of Mauritian language equilibrium, which can not be examined in sufficient detail in this article. See Baggioni and de Robillard. From capitulation until independence French had been promoted mostly by the Franco-Mauritians and upper class Creoles, with upwardly mobile Indians and Chinese favoring English. In recent years, due in part to an active French government cultural policy and a relatively disinterested British one, the balance has been tipping in favor of French. English is now commonly characterized as a "neutral" language in Mauritius, reserved for parliamentary, judicial, administrative, and educational purposes but not identified with a specific ethnic community.
40. Gilbert Ahnee, "Et quid de la pédagogie?" Le Mauricien, Nov. 9, 1995.
41. Thomas Hylland Eriksen, "A Future-Oriented, Non-Ethnic Nationalism? Mauritius as an Exemplary Case," Ethnos, 58 (1993), 197-221;
42. Eliphas G. Mukonoweshuro, "Containing Political Instability in a Polyethnic Society: The Case of Mauritius," Ethnic and Racial Studies, 14 (1991), 199-214.
43. "Le Privy Council renverse le jugement de la Cour suprême," Le Mauricien, Feb. 19, 1997.
44. Thomas Hylland Eriksen, "Two Modes of Group Identification," Journal of Peace Research, 32 (1995), 427-36.
45. Asgarally, ed.
46. Vinesh Hookoomsing, "Linguistic-Cultural Pluralism and Development: The Mauritian Experience," paper presented to the Second International Conference on Language in Development, IALF, Bali.
47. François Grin, "The Economics of Language: Match or Mismatch?," International Political Science Review, 15 (1994), 25-42;
48. Didier de Robillard, "Planification des langues et économie des ressources humaines: Le cas de l'île Maurice," Etudes Créoles, 12 (1989), 117-35.