My intention is to reflect on writing with passion at a time Sri Lanka is producing writing, at least in the Sinhala language, that is worthy of being introduced to the world. When I say this, I am thinking of creative writing. There is no such promise by and large when it comes to academic […]
The +921HeritageTalks is an annual conference focusing on South Asian narratives, led by Pakistan Chowk Community Centre (PCCC), under the guidance of its Founder, Architect and Spatial Advocate, Marvi Mazhar. The conference is a multidisciplinary platform, allowing researchers, academics, students and professionals from various backgrounds to jointly talk, present and collaborate over issues pertaining to […]
In the past two decades, Sri Lanka as a subject of study in the social sciences and humanities has grown in popularity. Yet and still, there are only a handful of peer-reviewed book-length publications that explore the topic of Sri Lanka, and a majority are authored by social scientists. ‘Assembling Ethnicities’ stands out because of […]
~ Tamara Fernando, Jesus College, Cambridge The names Vijayabhahu, Dutugamunu, and S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake are likely more familiar to the student of Sri Lankan history than Kedoe, Selestina and Cander Wayreven. Who were these three, and why are their life histories not better known? For one thing, all of them were slaves. The 23-year-old Kedoe was […]
~ Anushka Kahandagamage, University of Otago Panduka Karunanayake’s new book, Ruptures in Sri Lanka’s Education: Genesis, Present Status and Reflections is a timely intellectual intervention with a great deal of discussion on education in the country and how it should be reformed. In a scenario where state proposals for education reforms are often based on […]
~ Anushka Kahandagamage, University of Otago The idea of slavery has a long history though it is not an issue that registers routinely in South Asian memory. This is mostly because narratives of the South Asian enslaved have become a blind spot in history. I was fascinated to read Nira Wickramasinghe’s recent book Slave […]
~ Nira Wickramasinghe, Leiden University At different moments in time Sri Lanka was known by different names, Serendib for the Arabs, Lanka in the Ramayana and other chronicles and Ceylon for the successive European rulers who conquered parts of the island from the sixteenth century. In modern day Sri Lanka there is a small and […]
~ Gitanjali Surendran, Jindal Global Law School, India On the face of it one of the greatest challenges for humans in a modern age marked by conflict, is how to live together with atl east the minimum degree of security and harmony. I once heard a Palestinian film maker say to an audience in Delhi […]
~ Sasanka Perera, South Asian University As J. Krishnamurti and Educational Practice: Social and Moral Vision for Inclusive Education edited by Meenakshi Thapan enters circulation, I wondered how to write a non-conventional review of it. That is, to outline the politics in which it can be located and read, rather than say what it contains […]
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