Category Archives: literary achievements

“Our Present and Our Future” –Erudite Reflections on Ceylon’s Situation in 1850

A.C.[1]

“But where the stirring crowd, the voice of strife,

The glow of action, and the thrill of life?”

It may not perhaps be altogether useless to ask, How many of our countrymen have reflected seriously upon their condition and their prospects? How many have cast a thought beyond the events of yesterday or the business of to-day? We fear, not many. We are too content to move in the same mechanical circle of samenesses to-day as yesterday, to square our ideas with those of other men, to believe and to speak according to dictates; that we should entertain the remotest idea of comparing our Past with our Present, so as to arrive at a probable conception of the Future. Our life-time passes with the dreamy knowledge that we are, and but little beyond that. But What may we be? What ought we to be? Are questions which are never engendered in our minds. For any one original thought on the subject which may exist, we may be dwelling in Fairyland.

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Forgetting …. and Remembering

Michael Patrick O’Leary

I do not do much new writing these days but I do a lot of remembering. I have been reading a book about Forgetting by Gabriel Josipovici, but I have forgotten where I put it. Also have Ivan Illich’s  H2O and the Waters of Forgetfulness and Lewis Hyde’s A Primer for Forgetting and A Sivanandan’s (met him in 1968) When Memory Dies and Forgetting by Scott A Small.

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Thomia: A History of S. Thomas’ College, Sri Lanka

Richard Simon has produced  “A definitive social, cultural and political history of S. Thomas’ College, Sri Lanka”

S. Thomas’ College, founded by the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo in 1851, is arguably the greatest and most influential boys’ school in modern Lankan history. An acknowledged nursery of the country’s elite, this tropical facsimile of an English public school has produced four Prime Ministers and hundreds of other figures of national importance, wielding an enduring influence on the society, culture and politics of the country.

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For Lanka: The Profound Interventions of Pauline & Dick Hensman

Rohini Hensman, in a commemorative essay about her politically committed parents in the SSA journal POLITY in 2023 where the title runs “A Hundred Years of Pauline And C. R. (Dick) Hensman”

The birth anniversaries of Pauline Hensman (née Swan) and Dick Hensman occurred over the course of the past year [ …]. This attempt to provide an overview of their life and times will inevitably suffer from gaps, since neither they nor most of their contemporaries are alive. It will, therefore, have to draw on the imperfect memories of their children and younger friends, who would have to rely on hearsay for the parts of their lives from which they were absent. Nevertheless, the main events and themes of their lives emerge quite clearly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Plinio’s Description of “Taprobane”

Piero Perondi, whose chosen title was “THE SPLENDID TAPROBANE ALIAS SRI LANKA””

The main ancient source on Taprobane is the Roman historian Plinio the Old, in his manuscript “Natural History”, which does not fail to briefly retrace the testimonies of previous authors. He states that only in the time of Alexander the Great was it made clear that Taprobane was an island; before it was considered almost another world, the “land of the Antichthone ” (i.e. the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere).

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George Keyt Paintings: Ian Goonetileke’s Fascinating Collection

Nan, in The Island, 8 October 2023, where the title runs thus “HAI Goonetileke’s Keyts Collection”

 Ian Goonetileke decided to bequeath his extensive collection of Keyt’s art – sketches, paintings, both large and small sized, plus work of other artists such as George Claessen and Ivan Peiris, to the Peradeniya University as early as 1994. This collection named the Ian and Roslin Gooonetileke Painting Collection was formally handed over to the university at a ceremony in 2004.

I was present at the occasion, invited by Ian. In the speeches made, it was said a special room would be built and dedicated to housing the invaluable collection. The room is still to be set aside and all the art work lie in a room in the basement as they did for almost two decades.

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Tooth Relic Of The Buddha: A Relic In Sri Lankan Politics c. 300-2000

Dr. Dharmaratna Herath

A detailed book on the history of the Tooth Relic. This is the extended version of the PhD thesis of the author submitted to School of Oriented and African Studies(SOAS), University of London in 1974.

This was first priced for Rs14,000. But it is now available for Rs 8,500 (extra 10% off if purchased from Vijitha Yapa or Visidunu at CIBF).

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How Anthropologists Think: Configurations of the Exotic

  Bruce Kapferer, … being the Huxley Lecture: British Museum, 16 December 2011, subsequently published in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 9, 886 ..in 2013 … [with the numerals in the publication date references subject to distortion in this version–distortions that will be corrected eventually]

Anthropology has often been criticized for its exoticism and orientalism. They are the paradoxes of a discipline focused on the comparative study of difference and diversity and are at the centre of the discussion here in the larger context of the importance of anthropology in the humanities and social sciences. The emphasis is on the role of the exotic as vital to anthropology’s study of difference and to its overall coherence and significance for the understanding of humanity as a whole.

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Asoka Handagama’s “Alborada” penetrates Chile

Eda Cleary, in Sunday Observer, 24 September 2023.…  with highlighting imposed by the Editor, Thuppahi

The film Alborada by director Asoka Handagama was premiered in Chile recently with the Director of the Film School of the University of Valparaiso, film professor Rodrigo Cepeda, inviting academics, students and interested people to see the film.

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Rave Reviews of LAKE BEAUTY from Adelaidians

LAKE BEAUTY – A murder dissolves.

Here’s what readers have to say:

Justin La Brooy: “Lake Beauty is a novel based in rural Australia covering much of the first half of the last century.  It gives an exquisite glimpse into a time and place that has changed out of recognition, though one is left with a sense that the mind-sets and patterns of behaviour may be still with us…. The story grabs the attention of the reader from the beginning and maintains its interest as the plot develops…………………. A great read.”

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