Performing Memories and Weaving Archives:: Creolized Cultures across the Indian Ocean

This book explores how the Siddis in Gujarat and the South African Indians in South Africa perform different forms of creolized socio-cultural practices in the contemporary era, due to commercial relations and colonization. It highlights the intermixing of cultural practices, leading to creolized culinary, spiritual, and musical practices that expand the archives of creolized cultural practices in the Indian Ocean World.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 114 pages
Publication date: 05 December 2023
Publisher: Anthem Press

This captivating book delves into the fascinating ways in which the Siddis of Gujarat and the South African Indians in South Africa engage in diverse forms of creolized socio-cultural practices in the contemporary era. Since ancient times, India and South Africa have fostered commercial relations by exchanging a wide array of goods, including clothing materials, minerals, precious stones, and spices. Beyond the exchange of physical artifacts, these countries also exchanged diverse cultures, traditions, and rituals, creating a rich tapestry of intercultural exchange. However, the arrival of colonization in both these regions brought about a significant shift, as Africans were brought to India as slaves and Indians were taken to South Africa as indentured laborers. This migration led to the transportation of various objects, such as musical instruments, plant seeds, cooking utensils, and hand-woven clothes, across the vast Indian Ocean, serving as cultural memories that were carried with them. Over time, the cultural practices of the Indian Diaspora and African Diaspora intertwined with the native local cultures of South Africa and India, respectively, giving rise to intricate, fluid, multi-rooted, and creolized cultural practices.

This book serves as a valuable exploration, unveiling some of the captivating creolized culinary, spiritual, and musical practices of these communities. By examining these performances, the book offers a profound insight into how these communities contribute to the expanding archives of creolized cultural practices within the vibrant Indian Ocean World. Through its rich narratives and insightful analysis, this book provides a valuable contribution to the field of cultural studies, shedding light on the intricate and dynamic ways in which cultures evolve and intermingle in the modern world.

Weight: 188g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839986901