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Browsing by Author "Willarachchi, D.D.L."

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    Life Narratives of the Lankan Other: An Exploratory Study of the Jaffna Community in ‘Project I Am’
    (Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Willarachchi, D.D.L.
    Life narrative is a comparatively novel field of interest in Sri Lanka though life narratives are always woven into the socio-political fabric of the nation. In the Sri Lankan context biography and autobiography have traditionally been categorised as two separate genres in life writing, but certain life narratives tend to blur those boundaries. From This Point Forward, a photography exhibition by Luka Alagiyawanna, My Mother‘s Village, a documentary life narrative by Aaron Burton, and Project I Am by Kannan Arunasalam are examples of works based on Sri Lankan lives which blur the boundary between autobiography and biography. The focus of the present study, Life Narratives of the Lankan Other: An Exploratory Study of the Jaffna Community in „Project I Am‟ is Project I Am (www.iam.lk) which creates a digital archive of life narratives of Sri Lankan elders where the fluidity of the narratives and the genres are reflected through the blurring of the boundary between autobiography and biography. Based on the life narratives, memories and experiences of Sri Lankan elders, the project strives to answer the questions ―Was there a time when people in Sri Lanka didn‘t describe themselves as Sinhalese or Tamil, Muslim or Burgher? Or at least when these identities weren‘t foremost in their minds?‖ (Arunasalam, 2010). The reviews and articles on the projects have looked at the project merely as a repository of stories that help Sri Lankans understand their differences and a project promoting reconciliation with hardly any focus on the project as a Sri Lankan life narrative; a gap bridged by the present study. The study also focuses on the concept and politics of 'othering' with a view to exploring how these life narratives are constructed as Sri Lankan life narratives. For this purpose the study focuses on the segment on people from Jaffna, ―I am Jaffa‖, since the Jaffna community has a long standing history of being ‗the other‘. The inseparability of the concept and politics of othering, and the identity of Sri Lankans show that it is extremely challenging to dispose of the notion of the other as it has become an integral aspect of Sri Lankan identity and a social reality.
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    Theravada Men and Women of Sri Lanka: A Scrutiny of Individual Identity Construction under the influence of Theravada Buddhism and Gender in Theravada Man
    (University of Kelaniya, 2015) Willarachchi, D.D.L.
    As in any other culture, religion has played a significant role in individual character building in Sri Lanka, and Buddhism is one fundamental philosophy that has affected, influenced and shaped the lives and characters of the individuals who belong to the Sinhala-Buddhist culture. Various novelists have explored the nexus between Buddhism and the individual, for instance, Viragaya by Martin Wickramasinghe and Metta by Sunethra Rajakarunanayake. However, while a significant number of novels belonging to this category perceive the impact of Buddhism on the individual in a positive light, some fiction focus on how certain Buddhist teachings have been twisted within the Sinhala-Buddhist culture, making the individuals become victims of a dubious tradition. Theravada Man (2009)by the perceptive and radical Sri Lankan novelist, Manuka Wijesinghe is one such novel that reveals how certain Buddhist doctrines have become coloured by varied interpretations, perspectives and beliefs, deviating significantly from their theoretical base. The objectives of the present research are to explore how Theravada Buddhist doctrines have become twisted interpretations which build hypocrisy in the individual, and how Theravada Buddhism and the gender notions springing from it act as defining agents of the individual characters of men and women in this context. The key findings include the ways in which the author satirizes and challenges those flawed building blocks of an individual's character, and reveal how these notions still exist and operate in contemporary Sri Lanka. The research study is based on a close reading and analysis of Theravada Man, and relevant theoretical writings on Buddhism and gender. The study also reveals how religious doctrines and gender notions create the individual's ontology which may not be influenced by opposing or different views despite being exposed to new knowledge, thus restricting the individual's capacity to think and act free without being enslaved by tradition.

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