Received from Pedro Pombo Anthropology, Art History and Heritages in the Indian Ocean

Workshop proposed by the Creole Language and Culture Research Institute
28th February 2020, University of Seychelles
Received from Pedro Pombo
Anthropology, Art History and Heritages in the Indian Ocean
Pedro Pombo
12 juin
Pedro : Dear Marc, I read with much interest the reports and your text here. Such an interesting initiative! regarding Goa, it is at a crossroads that I am struggling still to understand. History and social memory have been trying to erase the multiplicity of cultural influences and origins. There has been a basic social line that systematically locates those called indigenous, mostly recognized today as tribal or considered "lower castes", and the so-called mainstream society, which descend from populations who came from the North and with a strong Hindu and hierarchical culture and religion. This has made Goa similar to other parts of India, where a part of its cultural diversity is systematically called tribal, and ends up not really being recognized as part of the society at large. More complex is the fact that Goa, for centuries, was a cosmopolitan place, with diverse populations, but this fact has not been acknowledged as such, and what is perceived as "Goan" is a mix of an upper-class Catholic background, village life (very feudal in its social structures) and a sense of Indo-Portuguese influence in the predominantly Hindu regions which became part of Portuguese Goa in the 18th century. Ironically, the fishing communities or agricultural communities are seen as part of the "Goaness" but rarely acknowledged in heritage discourses. As well as the tribals. They are looked upon as "typical" and "traditional" but almost as if they were left in their ancestral culture and are not part of the "Goan" heritage, which is seen as coming directly from an Indo-Portuguese dialogue and influences. At the same time, something I am trying to study, the long and strong presence of Black Africans coming as slaves or house servants, has been erased from social memories, and their descendants became part of the so-called lower castes. It is a very visible presence but totally invisibilized in the social discourses. This to say that an idea of creole, called by that name, is completely refuted here, and the fact that what is called Goan is in fact from processes of a cultural mixture, it has become something per se. Notions of creole are difficult for most of the Indian cultural background because it is a society that usually does not accept mixture, mutual influences, hybridism. Although, something on the lines of what you did in Seychelles, with the due differences, would be exciting. It should reach diverse parts of society since there are many views of what are cultural roots. And to question, and think, what is Goan, or what is it to be Goan for different persons from diverse backgrounds. It is true that the social discourses built until today mask a syncretism and creolized processes, although I am not sure if we could use the word "creole" as it is understood in Seychelles or Mauritius, for example. But all extremely interesting! I hope this is useful for you. Warmest regards! Pedro