Search Results for: identity

CR De Silva: Basic Sources on the Advent of the Karava & Salagama Castes in Sri Lanka

CR De Silva in Memo responding to a Query from Shihan De Silva in UK The evidence as to from what parts of India the KSD (Karava, Salagama, Durawa) castes arrived in Sri Lanka is not totally clear, but there … Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, caste issues, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, migrant experiences, politIcal discourse, religiosity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes

The School Thombos in Dutch Ceylon: Their Purpose

Bente de Leede & Nadeera Rupesinghe, whose article appeared in the  Law and History Review , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , August 2023 , pp. 501 – 521 …. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0738248022000499 ……. with the full title of the article being thus:  “Registering and Regulating Family … Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, British colonialism, cultural transmission, demography, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, education, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Nova Peris: What’s in Her Name?

Michael Roberts   In step with David Sansoni’s email questioning Victor Melder has categorically challenged my  speculative suggestion  that  NOVA PERIS may possibly have had  a grandparent who was a Sri Lankan pearler/trader/seaman in the north-western reaches of Australia . VICTOR: … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Aboriginality, accountability, Australian culture, australian media, cultural transmission, demography, ethnicity, European history, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, outmigration, Pacific Ocean politics, self-reflexivity, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Conflicting Readings of Sri Lanka’s Pre-Capitalist Past

Presenting a Review Essay compiled by Michael Roberts in 2010 that was presented in the SRI LANKA GUARDIAN on the 15th August 2010 … with this title:  “Ethnic Identity in Sri Lanka’s Pre-Capitalist Past: Shanie, Darshanie and Roberts” When Darshanie … Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, Dutch colonialism, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real

Adopting Mongrel Colourings & Becoming Thuppahi

Michael Roberts, presenting an old essay prnted in the Lanka Monthly Digest in 2002 that was entitled “Sri Lankan-ness …. and Being Mongrel” ** The impending peace negotiations and the demand for self-determination by the LTTE and most (?) Tamils residing … Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, British colonialism, caste issues, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, LTTE, performance, politIcal discourse, prabhakaran, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, unusual people, world events & processes, zealotry

Not all Issues are Black or White: Some Voices from the Offspring of Cross-Cultural Marriages

Audrey Maxwell [nee Roberts] …  a chapter in Rosemary Breger and Rosana Hill (eds). Cross-Cultural Marriage. Identity and Choice, Oxford, Berg, 1998, …. ISBN 1 85973 968 7 paper … with this reproduction being rendered possible by our nephew-in-law Tissa … Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under anti-racism, Britain's politics, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, meditations, migrant experiences, patriotism, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world affairs, world events & processes

Deciphering the Past to Secure Reform in the Present

Michael Roberts Let me suggest that in any country one cannot address the fundamental problems of the present without understanding its immediate past. This prescription was/is inherent in an article that I penned for the Indian journal FRONTLINE in June … Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

Karuna in Britain in 2008: The Legal ‘Knots’

DBS Jeyaraj, in the Financial Times, 28 March 2025 where the title reads “How UK-sanctioned “Col” Karuna was deported from Britain 17 years ago” Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias “Col” Karuna  After the UK sanctions were imposed the Tamil newspaper “Thamilan” interviewed Karuna … Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, authoritarian regimes, Britain's politics, centre-periphery relations, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, refugees, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Harini Amarasuriya’s New Year Message to All Sri Lankans

In TPS Courtesy of Charlees Schokman in Melbournev…. New Year Message from the Hon. Prime Minister As we move forward to the New Year of 2026, it is timely to reflect on the year 2025 that has passed. The year 2025 … Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Sri Lanka’s Maritime Legacy: A Discerning Study … Many Revelations

Avishka Mario  Senewiratne in The Island, 24 August 2025, where the title is “A Mirror to the Sea: Revisiting Sri Lanka’s Forgotten Maritime Legacy” …. Review of “Sri Lanka, Serendib & the Silk Road of the Sea” by Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, Muslims in Lanka, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes