Michael Roberts
About the time that I retired from my teaching duties at the Anthropology Department at Adelaide University in 2003/04, the topic of “suicide terrorism” was attracting a lot of attention in academic circles through books and articles. As I dwelt on this topic within the alternative title of “Sacrificial Devotion,” I also had, perforce, to dwell on the grievances espoused by the Sri Lanka Tamils.
Through happenchance, today, I came across an old Word File entitled “Be Tamil Bibliography.” Its entries suggest that it was drafted circa 2003/04 – so the temporal sweep is restricted. It lists academic books and articles on the ethnic contretemps in Sri Lanka as well as the Tamil world of Sri Lanka and India. Thus, the authors marked include such personnel as Zvelebil, Schalk, Kenneth David and Hellmann-Rajanayagam as well as the local Tamils Chelliah Manogaran, Valentine Daniel, Sivathamby, Somasundaram and Sivaram …. to name a few.
Tamil demonstrators invade the pitch during a Cricket World Cup, Group B, match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Oval, London, 11th June 1975. Australian opening batsman Alan Turner (foreground) turns his back on the protest while his teammate Rick McCosker looks on. Australia won the match by 52 runs..…Photo by Dennis Oulds/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
I notice an increasing interest in Sri Lankan politics in the digital internet world these days – partly due to octogenarian Sri Lankans all over the world with time on their hands and burgeoning intellectual interests. I trust this bibliography will whet their appetites; happy hunting girls and boys/grandmas & grandpaaaaaaaassss.
Arasaratnam, S. ‘Nationalism, communalism and national unity in Ceylon’, in P. Mason (ed.) India and Ceylon: unity and diversity, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967, pp. 260-78.
Aiyappan, A. ‘Deified men and humanized gods; some folk bases of Hindu theology’, in Kenneth David (ed) The new wind. Changing identities I South Asia, Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1977, pp. 95-104.
Arumuga Mudaliyar, S. 1964 ‘Concepts of religion in Sangam Literature and in devotional literature’, Tamil Culture 11: 252-71.
Banks, Michael : ‘Caste in Jaffna’, in E R Leach (ed) Aspects of caste in South India Ceylon and North-West Pakistan, Cambridge Uni Press, 1960, pp. 61-77.
Bastin, Rohan: ‘Sorcerous technologies and religious innovation in Sri Lanka’ Social Analysis, Fall 2002, 46: 155-74.
Bastin, Rohan: The domain of constant excess: religious pluralism at the Munnesvaram temples, Sri Lanka, New York: Berghahn, 2002.
Blackburn, Stuart Singing of birth and death. Texts in performance, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, 1988. +
Blackburn, Stuart ‘The tale of the book. Storytelling and print in nineteenth-century Tamil’, in R. Dwyer & C. Pinney (eds) ……………….
Blackburn S. and A K Ramanujan: Another harmony: essays on the folklore of India, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Cheran, R. 1992 ‘Cultural politics of Tamil nationalism’, South Asia Bulletin 12: 42-56. +
de Mel, Neloufer [chapter on women militants] Women and the Nation’s Narrative, Sri Lanka: Social Scientists’ Association, 2001. +
de Mel, Neloufer ‘Static Signifiers: Metaphors of Women in Sri Lankan War Poetry’, in V K Jayawardena and M de Alwis (eds) Embodied violence: conceptualisiing women’s sexuality in South Asia, New Delhi: Kali for Women,1996, pp. 168-89.
Ferracuti, Franco “A Socio-psychiatric Interpretation of Terrorism,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, September 1982, 463: 129-41. +
George, K. M. 1968 A study of Malayalam literature, Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
Gunaratna, Rohan 1997 International & regional security implications of the Sri Lankan Tamil insurgency, Colombo: Unie Arts Ltd for International Foundation of Sri Lankans, UK.
Gunaratna, Rohan 1998 Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis & national security, Colombo: Unie Arts Ltd forSouth Asian Network on Conflict Research.
Hage, Ghassan 2003 ‘Comes a time we are all enthusiasm; understanding Palestinian suicide bombers in times of exighophobia’, Public Culture, vol.15: 65-89.
Hart III, George L. “Woman and the sacred in Ancient Tamilnad,” Journal of Asian Studies 1973, 2: 233-50. +
Hart III, George L. 1999 [1975] The Poems of Ancient Tamil. Their Milieu and their Sanskrit counterparts, 2nd edn., Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Hart III, George L. ‘The Manikkurava story: from ritual to entertainment’, in Hellmann-Rajanayagam, Dagmar The Tamil Tigers. Armed struggle for identity, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1994a
Hellmann-Rajanayagam, Dagmar ‘Tamils and the meaning of history’, Contemporary South Asia 1994, 3: 3-24.
Hellmann-Rajanayagam, Dagmar: ‘The ‘groups’ and the rise of militant secessionism’, in C. Manogaran & B. Pfaffenberger (eds) The Sir Lankan Tamils. Ethnicity and Identity, Boulder: Westview Press, 1994, pp. 169-207.
Hellmann-Rajanayagam, Dagmar: ‘The Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka: origins, factions, programmes’, International Asienforum, 1986, 17;
Hiltebeitel, Alf: The ritual of battle, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1976.
Hoole, Rajan 2001 Sri Lanka: the arrogance of power. Myths, decadence and murder, Colombo: Wasala Publications for the UTHR. +
Hudson, Dennis 1990 ‘Violent and fanatical devotion among the Nayanars: a study in the Periya Purānam of Cekkilār’, in A. Hilfbeitel (ed.) Criminal gods and demon devotees, Delhi: Manohar, pp. 373-405. +
Hopgood, Stephen 2004 ‘The Black Tigers of Sri Lanka’, Mss, due in Diego Gambetta, Making sense of suicide missions, London: Routledge, in press.
Jeyaraj, D. B. S. 1993 ‘The composition, ideology and international dimension of the Tamil secessionist movement of Sri Lanka: an overview’, in R Premdas (ed.) The enigma of ethnicity, St. Augustine, Trinidad: School of continuing Studies, University of West Indies, pp 282-308.
Joshi, Manoj: ‘On the razor’s edge: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1996, 19: 19-42.
Kailasapathy K: Tamil Heroic Poetry, Oxford: OUP, 1968. +
Kanapathipillai, V. 1990 ‘July 1983: the survivor’s experience’, in V. Das (ed.) Mirrors of Violence. Communities, riots and survivors in South Asia, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 321-44.
Kearney, Robert N. 1967 Communalism and language in the politics of Ceylon. Durham, N C: Duke University Press.
Krishna Sastri, H. South Indian images of gods and goddesses, Delhi: Bhartiya Publishing House,1974.
Kurup, K. K. N. 1982 ‘Memorial tablets in Kerala’, in Settar, S. & G. D. Sontheimer (eds) Memorial Stones, Dharwad: Institute of Indian art History, pp. 243-50.
Lawrence, Patricia 1998 ‘Grief on the body: the work of oracles in eastern Sri Lanka’, in M. Roberts (ed) Sri Lanka. Collective identities revisited, Ratmalana: Marga Institute, pp. 271-94.
Manogaran, C. 1987 Ethnic conflict and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Manogaran, C. & B. Pfaffenberger (eds) The Sir Lankan Tamils. Ethnicity and Identity, Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.
Narayan Swamy, M R: Inside an elusive mind. Prabhakaran, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2003. +
Narayan Swamy, M R: Tigers of Sri Lanka, Delhi: Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd, 1994. +
Nesiah, Devanesan 2001a ‘The claim of self-determination: a Sri Lankan Tamil perspective’, Contemporary South Asia 10: 55-71. +
Nevill, Hugh 1963 ‘The story of Kovalan. Ceylon Tamil version’, Tamil Culture April-June 1963, 10: 72-84.
Obeyesekere, Gananath 1975 ‘Sorcery, premeditated murder and the canalization of aggression inSri Lanka’, Ethnology 14: 1-23.
Obeyesekere, Gananath 1977 ‘Social change and the deities: the rise of the Kataragama cult in modern Sri Lanka’, Man 12: 377-96.
Obeyesekere, Gananath 1978 ‘The fire-walkers of Kataragama: the rise of bhakti religiosity in Buddhist Sri Lanka’, Journal of Asian Studies, 37: 457-76.
Pandian, Jacob: ‘The goddess Kannagi: a dominant symbol of south Indian Tamil society’, in James J. Preston (ed) Mother worship: theme and variations, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1982, pp. 177-191.
Perinbanayagam, S.: The karmic theatre. Self, society, and astrology in Jaffna, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1982. +
Peiris, G. H. 1985 ‘An appraisal of the concept of a traditional homeland’, mimeo paper presented at the National Workshop on the Economic Dimensions of the ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka, ICES.
Peiris, G. H. 1991 ‘An appraisal of the concept of a traditional homeland’, Ethnic Studies Report 9: 13-39.
Peiris, G. H. 1994 ‘Irrigation, land distribution and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: an evaluation of criticisms, with special reference to the Mahaveli programme’, Ethnic Studies Report 12: 43-88.
Peiris, G. H. ‘An appraisal of the concept of a traditional homeland in Sri Lanka’, Island 24 March 1999, from internet, 1999.
Peiris, G. H. ‘Clandestine transactions of the LTTE and the secessionist campaign in Sri Lanka’, Ethnic Studies Report 2001,19: 1-38.
Peiris, G. H. ‘Secessionist War and terrorism in Sri Lanka: Transnational impulses’, in KPS Gill & Ajay Sahai (eds) Global threat of terror, New Delhi: Institute of Conflict Studies, 2003, pp.
Pape, Robert A. 2003 “The strategic logic of suicide terrorism’, American Political Science Review, August 2003, 97: 343-61.
Pfaffenberger, B. 1979 ‘The Kataragama pilgrimage: Hindu-Buddhist interaction and its significance in Sri Lanka’s polyethnic social system’, Journal of Asian Studies, 38: 253-80.
Pfaffenberger, B. 1982 Caste in Tamil culture; the religious foundations of Sudra domination in Sri Lanka, Maxwell School of Foundations and Comp Studies,
Pfaffenberger, B. 1984 ‘Fourth world colonialism, indigenous minorities and Tamil separatism in Sri Lanka’, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 1984, 16: 15-22.
Ramanujan, A. K.(trans): The interior landscape. Love from a classical Tamil anthology, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Ramanujan, A. K.: Poems of love and war. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Ramanujan, A. K.: “Two realms of Kannada folklore,” in S. Blackburn and A K Ramanujan (eds) Another harmony: essays on the folklore of India, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986, pp. 41-75.
Ramaswamy, Sumathi: ‘The nation, the region and the adventures of a Tamil “hero”,’ Contributions to Indian Sociology, 1994, n.s., 28: 295-322.
Ramaswamy, Sumathi: Passions of the tongue. Language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997
Ramaswamy, Sumathi: ‘Language of the people in the world of gods: ideologies of Tamil before the nation’, Journal of Asian Studies 1998, 57: 66-92.
Reuter, Christoph 2002 My life is a weapon. A modern history of suicide bombing, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Schalk, Peter 2002 ‘Ilavar and Lankans, emerging identities in a fragmented island’, Asian Ethnicity 3: 47-62.
Schalk, Peter 1997a “Resistance and Martyrdom in the process of state formation of tamililam<” in Joyce Pettigrew (ed) Martyrdom and political resistance, Amsterdam: VU Uni Press, 1997, pp. 61-84.
Schalk, Peter 1997c“Historisation of the martial ideology of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)”, South Asia, 20: 35-72.
Schalk, Peter 1997b “The revival of martyr cults among Ilavar,” Temenos: Studies in Comparative Religion 33 (1997): 151-190. Available at http://www.tamilcanadian.com/cgi-bin/php/page.php?index=307
Schalk, Peter 2002/03 ‘From “do and die’ to ‘do or die’. Semantic transformations of a lethal command on the battlefield in Īlam/Lanka’, Orientalia-Suecana, vol. LI-LII, pp. 391-98
Schalk, Peter 2003 ‘Beyond Hindu festivals: the celebration of Great Heroes’ Day by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) in Europe’, in Martin Baumann et al (eds.) Tempel und Tamilien in zweiter Heimat, Ergon Verlag, pp. 391-??.
Schalk, Peter 2004 God as a remover of obstacles. A study of Caiva soteriology among Īlam Tamil refugees in Stockholm, Sweden, Uppsala Universitet.
Schalk, Peter 2004b ‘Īlam Tamil Caivas in relation to other Hindus in Stockholm, Sweden’, in C. Klein et al (eds.) Unterwegs. Neue Pfade in der Religionswissenschaft. Festschrift fūr Michael Pye zum 65.Geburtstag, Munich: Biblion Verlag, pp. 371-77.
Settar, S. & G. D. Sontheimer (eds) Memorial Stones, Dharwad: Institute of Indian art History, 1982.
Settar S. & M. M. Kalaburgi 1982 ‘The hero cult: a study of Kannada literature from 9th to 13th centuries’, in S. Settar, & G. D. Sontheimer (eds.) Memorial Stones, Dharwad: Institute of Indian Art History, pp. 17-36.
Settar, S. 1982 ‘Memorials tones in South India’, in Settar, S. & G. D. Sontheimer (eds) Memorial Stones, Dharwad: Institute of Indian art History, pp. 183-97.
Shulman, David D. 1993 The hungry god. Hindu tales of filicide and devotion, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Shulman, David 1980 Tamil temple myths. Sacrifice and divine marriage in the South Indian Saiva tradition, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Shulman, David D. 1986, “Battle as metaphor in Tamil folk and classical traditions,” in S. Blackburn, and A K Ramanujan (eds) Another harmony: essays on the folklore of India, Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 105-30.
Sivarajah, A. 1995 ‘The rise of militancy in Tamil politics’, in M Werake & P V J Jayasekera (eds.) Security dilemma of a small state, Kandy: Institute for International Studies pp. 120-46.
Sivaram, D. P. 1992 ‘Tamil militarism – the code of suicide’, Lanka Guardian June 1992, 15: 13-16.
Sivathamby, K. 1990 ‘The ideology of Saiva-Tamil integrality. Its socio-historical significance in the study of Yālppānam Tamil Society’, Lanka 5: 176-85.
Soundara Rajan, K. V. ‘Origin and spread of memorial stones in Tamil-Nadu’, in Settar, S. & G. Sontheimer (eds) Memorial Stones, Dharwad: Institute of Indian art History, 1982.
Stirrat, R. L. 1992 Power and religiosity in a post-colonial setting, Sinhala Catholics in contemporary Sri Lanka, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sumathy S. [2003] ‘Militants, militarism and the crisis of (Tamil) nationalism’, Colombo: Marga Insitute, A History of Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka, Monograph Series, No. 22.
Susendirajah, S. 1988 ‘Religion and language in Jaffna society’, in M. Chitralega et al (eds) Kailasapathy Commemoration Volume, Thirunelvely, Jaffna,
Tambiah, S. J. 1986 Ethnic fratricide and the dismantling of democracy, London: Tauris & Co.
Tanaka, Masakazu 1991 Patrons, devotees and goddesses. Ritual and power among the Tamil fishermen of Sri Lanka, Kyoto: Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University.
Thaninayagam, X. S. 1966 Landscape and poetry. A study of nature in classical poetry, 2nd edn. London: Asia Publishing House.
Thornton, E. M. and R. Niththiyananthan 1984 Sri Lanka. Island of terror. An indictment, England: Eelam Research Organisation.
Trawick, Margaret 1990 Notes on love in a Tamil family, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Margaret Trawick ‘Reasons for Violence: A Preliminary Ethnographic Account of the LTTE’, in Siri Gamage and I.B. Watson (Hg.), Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka.Pearl of the East’ or the ‘Island of Tears’? New Delhi et al. 1999, pp. 139-163.
Vithiananthan, S. 1964 ‘Tamil folk drama in Ceylon’, Tamil Culture 11: 165-72.
Wadley, Susan ‘Power in Hindu ideology and practice’, in Kenneth David (ed) The new wind. Changing identities I South Asia, Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1977, pp. 133-57.
Whitehead, Henry: The village gods of South India, 2nd edn, New Delhi, Cosmo Publications, 1983. Original edn. 1921.
Wignesan, T. n. d. ‘Kasi Ananthan: Poet Laureate of Tamil Eelam,’ http://www.Tamilcanadian.com
Wilson, A. J. 2000 Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism. Its origins and development in the 19th and 20th centuries , London: Hurst and Company.
Zvelebil, Kamil V. 1963 ‘Tamil poetry 2000 years ago’, Tamil Culture 10: 19-30.
Zvelebil, Kamil V. The smile of Murugan,
Zvelebil, Kamil V. Tamil literature, Leiden: E J Brill, 1975.
Zvelebil, Kamil V. Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature, Leiden: E J Brill, 1992.
Zawodny, J.K. “Internal Organizational Problems and the Sources of Tension of Terrorist Movements as Catalysts of Violence,” Terrorism, 1, No. 3/4, 1978, 277-85.
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JAFFNA, SRI LANKA – AUGUST 12: Minority ethnic Tamil eldest women and young girls wait for public bus in the remote village of Chunnakam on August 12,2015 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The UN’s Human Rights Council investigation into alleged war crimes committed by both the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Sri Lankan Civil War is due to be released in September…. Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images
