ABSTRACT This paper seeks to assert the relevance of ‘sensing’ identity in social analyses of the Southwest Indian Ocean islands. It is proposed that for some time, a broad concept of social change (specifically creolization) has been the reference point for understanding identity in the region. However, authors have tended to ignore the sensorial nature of human identity and the sensory experience of slavery and colonization. As a result, they have advanced a ‘sense’ less articulation of the islands and their inhabitants. Focusing on the senses in human identity and social experience, this article offers a sense-rich analysis of identity in the Southwest Indian Ocean region, revealing multidimensional senses of self in a diversity of social spaces. The author concludes that by fixating on historical dates, broad social processes and the interests of a largely patriarchal society, some scholars have desensitized the past, obfuscating the realities of and creativity emerging out of slavery and colonization. Sensorial analyses of identity in the Southwest Indian Ocean region open up new avenues for thinking about human/nature relations and politics, the nature of ‘culture’ and experiences of social change.

中文翻译：

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毛里求斯和桑给巴尔脱敏的过去和耸人听闻的未来

摘要 本文试图断言“感知”身份在西南印度洋岛屿社会分析中的相关性。有人提出，一段时间以来，广泛的社会变革概念（特别是克里奥化）一直是理解该地区身份的参考点。然而，作者倾向于忽视人类身份的感官本质以及奴隶制和殖民化的感官体验。结果，他们提高了对岛屿及其居民的“意识”较少的表达。本文着眼于人类身份和社会体验中的感官，对西南印度洋地区的身份进行了丰富的感官分析，揭示了多元社会空间中的多维自我意识。作者得出结论，通过关注历史日期，由于广泛的社会进程和主要是父权制社会的利益，一些学者对过去麻木不仁，混淆了奴隶制和殖民化带来的现实和创造力。西南印度洋地区对身份的感官分析为思考人类/自然关系和政治、“文化”的本质和社会变革的经验开辟了新的途径。