The Presence of the Past: Chronicles, Politics, and Culture in Sinhala Life

Steven Kemper

Published by Cornell University Press 1992

The Presence of the Past

Chronicles, Politics, and Culture in Sinhala Life

Steven Kemper

In the series The Wilder House series in politics, history, and culture

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501736896

Overview
Contents

About this book

Tracing the evolution of an ancient but ongoing Sri Lankan chronicle, Steven Kemper deepens our understanding of the complex role of the historical past in the rise of nationalist movements. Kemper focuses in particular on the Mahavamsa, a Buddhist historical narrative which has been periodically extended over the last fourteen centuries, most recently in 1977 when President Jayewardene assembled a committee of scholars, bureaucrats, and monks to bring the chronicle up to date.

Kemper is concerned both with the development of Sinhala national identity and with the impact of historical consciousness in Sri Lankan culture and political life today. He discusses Sri Lankan party politics, ethnic conflict between Sinhala Buddhists and the Tamil minority, and political exchanges between the state, the monkhood, and the laity. Kemper argues that in Sri Lanka the past is made tangible through a set of social practices of genuine historical antiquity—chroniclekeeping, maintaining sacred places, and venerating heroes; and that the nationalist invocation of the past gathers its force from the way present-day circumstances impose new meanings on these practices.

By taking up the contention that Sinhala nationalism antedates the rise of nationalist movements in Europe by over a thousand years, Kemper's analysis offers challenging implications for our interpretation of nationalism as a modern European phenomenon. Anthropologists specializing in political development, historical anthropology, and oral and popular traditions; historians of South Asia; political scientists concerned with ethnic conflict; and others interested in the intersection of politics and religion will welcome The Presence of the Past.

Author / Editor information

Steven Kemper is Professor of Anthropology at Bates College.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Past Uses of the Past Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
2. Heroic Leaders and Discourses of Unity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
3. Colonial Constructions of the Past Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
4. Contesting the Past Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
5. Races and Places Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
6. An Elected Government Invokes the Past Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
7. Nationalist Discourse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	194
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 272
Keywords: Religious Studies; American Studies

eBook

Published: May 15, 2019
ISBN: 9781501736896