PMH/Music, poetry, and the politics of identity in Réunion Island: an historical overview

The article describes the ways language, poetry and musical creation had been used, in Réunion Island, to negotiate identity in colonial and post-colonial contexts. Focusing on three main currents since the end of the eighteenth century, it examines in detail the semantic role of literary and musical choices in a multicultural society. It shows in particular how political struggle for autonomy or French belonging had conditioned, in the seventies, the creation of a musical and literary dichotomy between 'folklore' and 'tradition'. The article analyses various recordings from 1930 to 1980, establishing boundaries for the study of the recording industry of the island.