| Summary: | A Research Report Submittedin PartialFulfilment oftheRequirements fortheDegreeof MasterofArts(Coursework andResearch Report) in
SocialAnthropology
By
ASSO’OJEANNERITAKANTU
Supervisor: Associate Professor SharadChari (CISA) UniversityoftheWitwatersrand &Centre for IndianStudies in Africa (CISA) August 2017 === BasedonanethnographicstudyoftwoIndo-MauritianfamiliesineasternMauritius,their gatheringsandtheirritualsbasedonanHindufaith,thisresearchreportstudiestherelationship betweenaesthetics,spiritualityandaurainthemasscommoditizationandadvertisingofbottled coconutwater.Usingparticipantobservation,in-depthinterviewsandsemioticimageryanalysis, thisreportsuggeststhatthecoconut,inHindubelief,hasavitalmaterialityandcariesanaurain itsphysicalcompositionandphysiologicalcontentwhich:1)allows it to travel across pace and time2)endowsitwitha‘divinity’thatvalidatesitseconomicexploitandrepresentationand3) standsasanOrientalistmacrocosmicsymbolforthemicrorealities,intimacies,socialrelations and lived experiences of every day life on a ‘paradise’ island.
Keywords:aura ,aesthetic, spiritualty, Hindu, Indo-Mauritian, vitalmateriality === GR2017
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