Search Results for: beast
Lacquer’s Cultural History of Mortal Remains
Introducing The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains, by Thomas W. Laqueur The Greek philosopher Diogenes said that when he died his body should be tossed over the city walls for beasts to scavenge. Why should he or … Continue reading →
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Achtung! Achtung! The Drones are coming!
Vegas Tenold, 18 February 2018 courtesy of http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-untold-casualties-of-the-drone-war-20160218?page=2 where the title is “The Untold Casualties of the Drone War” Early one evening in November, Brandon Bryant, a former Air Force officer and perhaps the world’s most famous drone program whistleblower, … Continue reading →
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IV. Bavinck on Life in Jaffna, 1994-2004: People Caught in the Middle of Two Awesome Forces
Michael Roberts Continuing with my presentation of “Motifs” from within Benjamin Bavinck’s diaries, this collection depicts the sentiments of moderate Tamils who were caught in between the main protagonists. Since Bavinck’s political leanings were firmly within this mould, the entries … Continue reading →
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Filed under authoritarian regimes, communal relations, cultural transmission, devolution, education, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Hitler, human rights, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, meditations, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Siri Gunasinghe’s Sinhala Poems in English — Just Three
Translated by Ranjini Obeyesekere, in The Island, 25 February 2015 The Water Buffalo My beard on fire in haste, I was running, running down in the dawn, bearing the burdens of life all on my back; at the edge of … Continue reading →
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Filed under cultural transmission, heritage, literary achievements, unusual people
India rejects Cultivated English. Modi’s Gujarati and Hindi swamps the old school tie
Sanjay Subramanian, courtesy of the New York Review of Books, where the title reads “India after English?” A scene at Calcutta in mid-May 2014 —Pic by Piyal Adhikary/epa/Corbis In the days since the decisive victory of Narendra Modi and his conservative … Continue reading →
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Remembering a Renaissance Man, Ediriweera Sarachchandra
Ranjini Obeyesekere Born at the cusp of the 20th century, at a moment when the cross influences of colonialism, nationalism, and Buddhist revivalism had a powerful impact on the psyche of Sri Lankan intellectuals, — generative as well as conflictual … Continue reading →
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Jean Arasanayagam: Poet, Author, Activist
Sarah Hannan, in the Sunday Leader, 7 July 2013 “We’ll all become spinners of endless sagas which we read in the silence of our eternal loneliness. We inhabit the world of exile, which lies within the Babylon of ourselves” – … Continue reading →
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Val Daniel’s Introduction of Ben Bavinck and Ben’s Diary over the Years of Conflict in Lanka
E. Valentine Daniel, August 2010 Modern warfare, by any measure, is a display of excess; but the excesses just before the end of wars—the excess of inhumanity, indiscriminate use of force, a frenzy of unmatched cruelty, wanton destruction and devastation, … Continue reading →
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Filed under accountability, citizen journalism, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, liberation tigers of tamil eelam, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, prabhakaran, reconciliation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, unusual people, world events & processes
Gananath Obeyesekere reviews John Holt’s new Reader
Gananath Obeyesekere, Courtesy of the Economic and Political Weekly, January 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 4 This massive, ambitious project by a distinguished historian of religion contains a series of essays that span a long time period from Sri Lanka’s … Continue reading →
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Filed under cultural transmission, democratic measures, Eelam, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, religious nationalism, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, terrorism, world events & processes
Vorsicht! “Deutsche Bank” penetrates Australian Shores. Australia in a Tizz
Ben Packham, in The Australian, 10 april 2013 with title “Asylum boat’s arrival on mainland may force border patrol rethink” The boat carrying 66 Sri Lankans arrived in Geraldton harbour, 430km north of Perth, at 12.45pm local time yesterday en route … Continue reading →
