Panel

12. ‘Africa-Asia’ in an Entangled World: Migrations, Diasporas, Creolities

Entangled Pasts, Archipelagic Futures: AfricAsian Islands, Arts and Literatures

1 - Creole Fetes and Festivalisation: Building Archipelagic Collaborations

Saturday, June 14, 2025

11:15 - 13:00 GMT

Location: LAB-02

Presenter(s)

RB

Rosa M C Beunel-Fogarty
City Saint George's, University of London, United Kingdom

Presentation Abstract
Every October since 1984, people across the Creole world celebrate International Creole Day. Spanning the Caribbean and Indian Ocean islands as well as their diasporas in the global North, these celebrations positively reclaim African-Asian Creole cultural practices and languages that were once marginalised and stigmatised. Often showcasing creative expressions from other Creole islands alongside national Creole heritage, these fetes also signal a pan-Creole vision that connects small island nations into trans-oceanic archipelagos. However, Creole day and its associated festivities such as ‘Semenn Kreol’ or Creole festivals gather unequal amount of interest and enthusiasm across the Creole sphere, revealing the difficulties involved in building meaningful transregional relations. Investigating the tumultuous beginnings of inter-islands collaborations manifested by the creation of institutions such as the International Comity of Creole Studies (CIEC) and the Bann Zil Kreol association, this paper examines the political and intellectual context in which International Creole Language Day (as it was initially named) first came into existence. As well as recounting the organisational stories, hopes, and feuds of the 1970s and 80s, I explore how the institutionalisation and festivalisation of Creole culture gained more traction in the Seychelles, where the festival is now celebrated across three weeks and boasts an array of activities and guest delegations from other islands. Using archipelagic theory together with studies on the festivalisation as memorialisation of heritage, I present Creole festivals as examples of south-south collaborations that seek to enhance the resilience of minoritised postcolonial cultures in the face of contemporary global challenges.