Browsing by Author "Fonseka, P."

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    King in his subject’s cloths: Anti-colonialist characters in post colonial western cinema explored through Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi and Cry Freedom
    (University of Kelaniya, 2005) Fonseka, P.
    Colonization has brought about effects that have had lasting impacts on all colonized spaces, may they be geographical, economic or cultural. In this paper my attempt is to explore how post independent cinema of Richard Attenborough tries to portray anticolonialist heroes in terms of western cinematographic tools, which his prospective audiences of the west were familiar with. These apparently contradictory entities, i.e. native protects and its leaders redressed to the taste of the very populace once they struggled against in a desperate attempts to reclaim their independence, are marked by a mockery of independence itself. At a superficial level, this become almost evidence in the selection of the main actor of both films, British Ben Kingsly (as Gandhi) and American Denzil Washington (as Steve Biko) in Gandhi and in Cry Freedam respectively. What these western actors dressed in the native cloths, how ever successful they were in their performance, seem to be authenticating by revisiting colonial space, is in fact a reversed form of colonialism that appropriate the ex-rival into the colonial realm itself. In exploration of such thesis, I will seek theoretical support in critical theory in general and post colonial theory of representation and theory of film in particular.
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    Neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in the Galle district
    (Sri Lanka Medical Association, 1994) Fonseka, P.; Wijewardene, K.; de Silva, D.G.H.; Goonaratna, C.; Wijeyasiri, W.A.
    DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: Galle district in Sri Lanka. SUBJECTS: 350 infant deaths of singleton births. MEASUREMENTS: Association between variables. RESULTS: Neonatal: post-neonatal death ratio was 3.2:1, and 62.3% (218) were early neonatal deaths. First day deaths comprised 28.6% (100); 67.8% (237) died at the Teaching Hospital. A high incidence (65.7%) of low birthweight (LBW) was noted. Mean birthweights of neonates and post-neonates were 1925 +/- 729 and 2520 +/- 620 gram respectively, and the difference between means was statistically significant (p < 0.001). LBW and related disorders were the major cause of death in 44% (154) of the total sample, and in 55.8% (149) of neonates. Infections were the commonest cause (55.8%) of death in post-neonates. Pediatric clinical assessment to differentiate small-for-dates (SFD) was not recorded in 90.3%. Statistically significant associations were found between the period of death (neonatal and post-neonatal) and the following variables: period of gestation (p < 0.001); birthweight (p < 0.001) and cause of death (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There was a high incidence of neonatal deaths and a high proportion of early neonatal deaths. About one-third of deaths occurred on the first day of life. Incidence of LBW was high. The major cause of death was LBW and related disorders in the total sample and in neonates. Assessment of SFD was not carried out in the vast majority of infants.