Colour and Conflict in Nineteenth-Century Île Bourbon: the Case of the Affaire Houat

This article studies the coverage of a racially motivated political trial in 1830s Île Bourbon (present-day Reunion Island) in the Parisian periodical Revue des colonies. I argue that in its otherwise astute defense of the mixed-race defendant Louis-Timagène Houat, the periodical's editors exhibit an Atlantic bias, ignoring insular concerns, such as the relationships among Île Bourbon's diverse castes and classes. This case study serves as a litmus test of the pitfalls of enlisting Atlantic frameworks when approaching the colonial Indian Ocean. Instead, we may look at nineteenth-century Indian Ocean literature to provide methodological direction in the study of the region.