Multilingual Mauritius: Insights from Discourse, Interviews, and the Linguistic Landscape

Hannah Davidson

Abstract:

Multilingualism in Mauritius can be observed at different scales, from intimate moments of talk to visible public displays. This lecture applies a sociolinguistics of scale perspective to examine how language practices shift in meaning as we move from micro-level interactions, to individual reflections and language in collective public spaces. At the interactional scale, discourse markers and multilingual turn-taking show how speakers navigate diverse repertoires in real time. At the personal scale, interviews capture how Mauritians explain and evaluate their own linguistic practices. At the societal scale, the linguistic landscape, comprising signage, advertising and institutional texts, indexes broader ideologies of language status and hierarchy. By moving across these layers, the lecture highlights how local practices are linked to larger historical and political trends and how scaling up and down offers new insights into the complexities of juggling Creole, French, English and ancestral languages in the Mauritian context.

Zoom-Link

Meeting ID: 580 775 4066

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