Reconciling what? History, realism and the problem of an inclusive Sri Lankan identity
Abstract
"This paper examines the lack of an inclusive pan-Sri Lankan identity in relation to literary representations and understandings of nation, looking specifically at the work of the English language writing of Yasmine Gooneratne and Ambalavaner Sivanandan and the Sinhala writing of Gunadasa Amarasekara. While Sri Lankan history may not yield much evidence of an inclusive national identity one needs to raise the question as to why literature, which might be seen as a discourse where the improbable and idealistic is often explored, has failed to yield such a conception of idealistic nationhood. The tentative answer to this complex and multifaceted question proposed here is that it is related to the dominance of historical consciousness within the Sri Lankan cultural imagination and the choice of realism as a mode of representation." [OCLC Accession No.: 871323398- Ethnic relations -- political aspects
- Peace -- Sri Lanka
- Political science -- Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka -- History -- Civil War, 1983-2009 -- Peace
- Sri Lanka -- Ethnic relations -- Political aspects
- Sri Lanka -- Politics and government -- 21st century
- Sri Lanka -- Anthropology and sociology -- Ethnic groups -- Tamils
- Ethnic relations -- political aspects
- Peace -- Sri Lanka
- Political science -- Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka -- History -- Civil War, 1983-2009 -- Peace
- Sri Lanka -- Ethnic relations -- Political aspects
- Sri Lanka -- Politics and government -- 21st century
- Sri Lanka -- Anthropology and sociology -- Ethnic groups -- Tamils