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<p>This book is about a ‘Small Island’ namely Mauritius in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It is also about a ‘Large Ocean’ the Indian Ocean world – its peoples histories and cultures. It casts down a light on the life of an island through what is known not only about the island itself but also through what is known about the wider Indian Ocean world. It is also about the Indian Ocean world in that it focuses on an island which in many senses and dimensions is not only a model of but in some respects also a model for wider developments and features of relevance to the Indian Ocean world as a whole. Chapter one provides some basic background information on first the island itself and secondly on the ocean in question. This introductory chapter concludes with some remarks on ‘Indian Ocean Studies’ more generally and on the methodological question of how to study an ocean. Chapter two deals with the issue of ‘islandness’ and looks closer at the overall world of Indian Ocean islands. Chapter three investigates ‘piracy’ in the South-Western Indian Ocean from around 1680 to 1750 while Chapter four addresses the issue of epidemic diseases that have violently influenced the history of Mauritius from the start of its settlement. Chapter five looks at demographic issues and at concomitant questions of identity politics in Mauritius today. Chapter six discusses Mauritius’s role as a maritime hub over the three centuries of its existence also addressing present-day non-maritime manifestations of the island as a hub. Chapter seven investigates the significance of tourism for Mauritians not only in economic but also in socio-cultural concerns. Chapter eight concludes this book with a view on the politics of cultural heritage including the Séga dance or world-heritage sites remembering African slavery and Indian indentured labour in post-colonial Mauritius. About the Author Burkhard Schnepel is a Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology at the Martin Luther University Halle Germany. His main theoretical and thematic interests are political rituals in India especially in Orissa and the history of the Indian Ocean world especially Mauritius. Among his more recent books include Connectivity in Motion: Small Islands in the Indian Ocean World (Palgrave 2018 co-edited with E.A. Alpers); Travelling Pasts: The Politics of Cultural Heritage in the Indian Ocean World (Brill 2019 co-edited with Tansen Sen); and The King’s Three Bodies: Essays on Kingship and Ritual (Manohar 2021).</p>
