This book evaluates the views of different ethnic groups towards the English language in Sri Lanka for a period of almost two centuries. While a few studies have addressed the subject of English in Sri Lanka in a general way, there has been no research showing the specifics of English usage in the major ethnic communities of the country. This text considers notions and attitudes towards English that prevail in Sri Lanka today among writers, language planners, teachers and students, habitual speakers, and infrequent users, as well as elite and non-elite groups in the country. The book also examines colonial and postcolonial writings in three communities, namely the Sri Lankan diaspora and the Tamil and Sinhala communities.

This companion presents a critical collection of Sinhala resistance literature from Sri Lanka. It includes translated short stories and excerpts from Sinhala novels, written after the civil war in the country. Featuring national award-winning writers, the selected texts share a common theme of resistance as the writers write against an exclusivist nationalism that was propagated through mass media and platforms of party politics in Sri Lanka during the war. The volume addresses crucial issues such as the fate of civilians in war, the role of religion in Sri Lankan polity, media censorship, the experience of women in war, as well as the current education system and youth problems in present day Sri Lanka. It highlights an alternate discourse that runs among the ethnic Sinhala group and contributes to the overall movement towards peace and reconciliation among the different ethnic communities in Sri Lanka. A unique addition to the growing oeuvre of translated Sinhala literature, the companion will be indispensable to students, scholars, and researchers of ethnic studies, war and peace studies, peace and conflict studies, literature, cultural studies, political sociology, and South Asian studies, particularly those interested in Sri Lankan literature.

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. The study of South Asian music falls under the purview of ethnomusicology, whereas that of South Asian literature falls under South Asian studies. As a consequence of this academic separation, scholars rarely take notice of connections between South Asian song and poetry. Modernizing Composition overcomes this disciplinary fragmentation by examining the history of Sinhala-language song and poetry in twentieth-century Sri Lanka. Garrett Field describes how songwriters and poets modernized song and poetry in response to colonial and postcolonial formations. The story of this modernization is significant in that it shifts focus from India’s relationship to the West to little-studied connections between Sri Lanka and North India.

Carter unfolds the cumulative traditions of Theravāda Buddhism by showing how one "looks at the world through Buddhist eyes." Presenting evidence from the Buddhist heritage in Sri Lanka, he develops a disciplined, inclusive approach to understanding notions of ethical living and "faith," or how individuals live life religiously. The author examines Buddhism as a worldview, reviewing the process of its origins and the development of its important concepts such as the pursuit of dhamma by Buddhists; the "Four Noble Truths;" the notion of refuge and the process of transcending; the role of the Buddhist monk (bhikkhu); and the role of music in ritual chant and song.