Last March, director Gopalen Chellapermal premiered his documentary Nou Kreol, souf nou nasionin which linguists, academics and artists recount the birth and evolution of this mother tongue, born of the history and intermingling of the peoples who have shaped Mauritius. Dominique Bellier
Kreol is the first music that Mauritian children hear from their mother’s womb, that of a highly imagery language, the youngest and liveliest of contemporary societies. Linguist Vinesh Hookoomsing, who produced the first bilingual Creole/English dictionary, reminds us of this in Gopalen Chellapermal’s documentary,
Nou Kreol, souf nou nasion (or Our Creole, the breath of a nation), shows that this language, viscerally anchored in the body of every Mauritian, is an integral part of his or her culture and imagination.
The original soil of the nation, this language structures the thinking of its citizens. The director managed to interview most of the specialists who have been working towards its recognition since the 60s, from Dev Virahsawmy to Arnaud Carpooran, via Nita Rughoonundun, Alain Ah Vee and Lindsey Collen. The many contributors describe its characteristics and, above all, tell the story of how, from its origins, it has recently begun to gain recognition.
Murmured on the sly in backyards, Morisian Kreol has gradually become a national pride, as witnessed by families, artists such as Henri Favory, Gaston Valayden, Biligane and Daniella Bastien, and emblematic places like the boutique and the market. One voice is sadly missing from this documentary: that of Abaim, whose work on oral traditions and their transmission would have added an even richer dimension to this portrait of the Creole language.
A symbol of national unity, Morisian Kreol will soon enter the National Assembly, once the necessary tools and amendments have been drawn up. But the fight goes on for it to become a language of instruction, like any mother tongue, and no longer just an optional subject…
