Search Results for: identity

Full Frontal: Harini for Sri Lanka

Item in The ISLAND, 18 October 2025, entitlled “The Government of Sri Lanka is ready to work in cooperation with India and the international community for a prosperous Sri Lanka – Prime Minister” .… with highlighting imposed by The Editor, … Continue reading

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Susan Bayly’s Review of Michael Roberts’ Book on The Rise of  the Karava in Ceylon

Susan Bayly: “Review: The History of Caste in South Asia,” reviewing  Caste Conflict and Elite Formation: The Rise of a Karāva Elite in Sri Lanka,1500-1931 by Michael Roberts (CUP 1983) …. in Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 17, No. 3 (1983), pp. … Continue reading

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Shattered Lives in Sri Lanka’s Wars: Several Lesser-Known Strands

Dennis McGilvray in ASIAN  ETHNOLOGY Vol 73, 1&2, pp 348-49, reviewing  Sharika Thiranagama, In My Mother’s House: Civil War in Sri Lanka. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011 The title of this book points to the author’s personal connection … Continue reading

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Caste Among the Sinhalese in the Modern Era: The Significance of Name Changes

M. W. Amarasiri De Silva: “Do name changes to “acaste” names by the Sinhalese indicate a diminishing significance of caste?”  ABSTRACT of article pubd in in Cultural Dynamics, 2018, Vol. 30(4), pp. 303–325 ………………………………….. sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav httpDs:/O/dIo: i1.o0r.g1/1107.171/0779/201932173470410918982299660055 journals.sagepub.com/home/cdy In modern … Continue reading

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Becoming ‘Sinhalese’ or ‘Tamil’ in Sri Lanka

Michael Roberts, …… in 2008 The printed version of this essay can be found in Michael Roberts: FIRE and STORM. ESSAYS IN SRI LANKAN POLITICS, Colombo, Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2010, Chapter 9 …… ISBN 978-955-665-134-8. It was presented earlier on … Continue reading

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Nova Peris & Her Roots: Any Sri Lankan Links?

Michael Roberts Since Nova Peris-Kneebone was one member of the Australian 4 x 100 relay team that secured  a medal  in the Olympic Games of 1996 ( …..   ), I  raised  the speculative question:  does  the name PERIS indicate that … Continue reading

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Gamini Dissanayake: A Spearhead for Sri Lankan Cricket

Navin Dissanayake in  The Island, 20 March 1995 Cricket has long been Sri Lanka’s greatest unifier. It is the sport that makes the world see us as more than just a small island—it makes them respect us, remember us, and … Continue reading

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Roberts on Nationalist Strands & Struggles in Sri Lanka

Responding to requsts from two different friends, I provide a list of the articles penned on the various currents of nationalism in Sri  Lanka — studies spanning the colonial period and post-1948 politics. The list is not comprehensive. I may … Continue reading

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Be Tamil Bibliography…….For Sri Lanka 2003/04

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 … Continue reading

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Transforming Australian Culinary Tastes: “Colombo Social” run by Shaun

SEE  ….  Off Menu _ Shaun Christie-David – ABC News… which resisted all my hamhanded efforts at copying its pictures …. so ‘taste’ this Shaun Christie-David can still picture the bin where he used to ditch his dhal sandwiches, the … Continue reading

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