ABSTRACT
We gathered concrete heterogeneous data from the field called “survey corpus” and compared this to existing archival sources. The authors acknowledge having approached the study of Mauritian society with a “bottom up” approach, the key concept of the “fieldwork” generating knowledge useful for the renewal of academic knowledge. This dual anthropological and historical perspective was gained through interviews by a direct approach, from participation in events to which we were usually invited while both of the researchers – national (Ramhota) and foreigner (chazan-Gillig) – have occupied the position assigned to them by the sources we chose. A set of defined criteria relating to the research’s key questions helped choose the sources. We have obtained new data, and systematically compared it with the writings of the Mauritian National Archives. The new concepts proposed in the last chapter of the book are the product of a critical reflection on the investigative practice and its effects on the discourses produced. Through the systematic visit of popular cults/worship, kalimais, ceremonial sharing, the recorded interviews before, during and after the ceremonies, a subjective rationality was organised in the local, regional and national context according to the form of globalisation taken by current Mauritian society. The second part of the chapter deals with the typology of kalimais.
