University of Chicago anthropology graduate student Kristi Rhead revisits the Indian Ocean island of Réunion where she once lived in a discussion with her former roommate, Asa Waterworth. They ask a simple question: Why could a museum that was never built lead to a massive controversy that would come to divide an island known for its unity in diversity? In thinking about this, Kristi and Asa explore the enigmatic history of the French overseas department of Réunion, rethink generally accepted facts about how decolonization works, dig into local school curriculum and politics, and even consider the wreck of the Titanic. Themes touched upon include the politics of commemoration, decolonization, ideology, multiculturalism, creolization, and the history of France and the Indian Ocean region.
University of Chicago anthropology graduate student Kristi Rhead revisits the Indian Ocean island of Réunion where she once lived in a discussion with her former roommate, Asa Waterworth. They ask a simple question: Why would a museum that was never built lead to a massive controversy that would come to divide an island known for its unity in diversity? In thinking about this, Kristi and Asa explore the enigmatic history of the French overseas department of Réunion, rethink generally accepted facts about how decolonization works, dig into local school curriculum and politics, and even consider the wreck of the Titanic. Themes touched upon include the politics of commemoration, decolonization, ideology, multiculturalism, creolization, and the history of France and the Indian Ocean region. ***************************************************************************For more information and further reading, see the following: *Rhead, Kristi. “Liberté, Identité, Diversité: Generation and Fantasy in the Politics of Education on Réunion Island.” University of Chicago, 2020. * Fiennes, Sophie. The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology. Documentary. Blinder Films, British Film Institute (BFI), Film4, 2012. * Wilder, Gary. Freedom Time: Negritude, Decolonization, and the Future of the World. North Carolina, UNITED STATES: Duke University Press, 2015. * Wedeen, Lisa. Authoritarian Apprehensions: Ideology, Judgment, and Mourning in Syria. University of Chicago Press, 2019. * La Maison Des Civilisations et de l’Unité Réunionnaise - Version Anglaise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RInFonymnc4. * Vergés, Françoise. “Creolization and the Maison Des Civilisations et de l’unité Réunionnaise,” 2006. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470412906058359. * ———.“La Maison des civilisations et de l’unité réunionnaise : un carrefour d’échanges.” Hommes & Migrations 1275, no. 1 (2008): 198–201. https://doi.org/10.3406/homig.2008.5132. * ———. “Maison Des Civilisations et de l’Unité Réunionnaise: A Museum without a Collection.” Theory, Culture & Society 24, no. 7–8 (December 1, 2007): 238–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276407084708. * ———. “The Island of Wandering Souls: Processes of Creolization, Politics of Emancipation.” In Islands in History and Representation, edited by Rod Edmond and Vanessa Smith, 162–76. Routledge, 2003. http://research.gold.ac.uk/1903/. * Clicanoo. “La Maison des civilisations et de l’unité réunionnaise.” Clicanoo.re. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.clicanoo.re/Politique/Article/2009/09/14/La-Maison-des-civilisations-et-de-lunite-reunionnaise_126453. * Museum Geographies. “Across the Indian Ocean: ‘Imagining a Museum of Intangible Culture,’” September 2, 2014. https://museumgeographies.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/across-the-indian-ocean-imagining-a-museum-of-intangible-culture/. * Questions? kristi.rhead@gmail.com
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