Borders and Ecotones in the Indian Ocean

This collection of critical essays anchors itself in the Indian Ocean and
explores the multiple ways dynamic exchanges have shaped this multilingual
region of the world, from India to the Mascarene Islands to Southern Africa.
Borders, edges and third spaces are revisited through the notion of the
ecotone, a transitional zone between two ecosystems. If the term has primarily
been used by biologists and ecologists, the metaphorical angle proves to be
fruitful as it authorizes trans-disciplinary approaches and empowers fresh
perspectives. In French and in English, the aim of the volume is to contribute
to scholarship already published across various disciplinary fields and to
participate in the development of Indoceanic studies. The authors of the
volume aim to rethink those ecotonal sites that are spaces of frictions as
much as spaces of fusion. The essays are by Pallavi Chakravarty, Debdatta
Chowdhury, Cécile Do Huu, Pierre-Éric Fageol and Frédéric Garan, Laurence
Gouaux-Rabasa, Elisa Huet, Marianne Hillion, J.U. Jacobs, Annu Jalais, Valérie
Magdelaine-Andrianjafitrimo, Nicolas Roinsard, Laëtitia Saint-Loubert, Meg
Samuelson, Ritu Tyagi. A conversation with the Mauritian writer Shenaz Patel
offers a conclusion that opens the horizon towards literary creation.