“Indian Indenture in the French Sugar Plantations” will be presented by Indira
Karamcheti in English on November 2, 2024 from 3:00-5:00 PM.

After the (second) French abolition of slavery in 1848, French sugar planters in the Caribbean and in the Indian Ocean turned to the use of indentured workers from India. In the 19th century, they drew people from their colonies in Pondicherry and Karikal in South India, and established communities in Réunion, Mauritius, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. Out of this global diasporic history, three interesting figures emerge: two 20th century writers, the Mauritian writer/scholar Khal Torabully and the Martiniquan Raphaël Confiant, and an indentured servant in Martinique from the 19th century.

Indira Karamcheti is Associate Professor of the Global South Asian Studies Program at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Trained in literary studies, her work focusses on imperialism, the South Asian diaspora, as well as children’s literature and education.

The Alliance Française Conference Room
57 Charter Oak Avenue
Hartford, CT

 This is a low building at the rear left of large parking lot.  It is adjacent to the Capewell Lofts.  The building has a ramp and you can enter through the door on the right.