Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T01:59:33.521Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

For Humanity. For the Sinhalese. Dharmapala as Crusading Bosat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2010

Michael Roberts
Get access

Extract

In 1956, eight years after political independence was secured for Sri Lanka, a major transformation was effected through the ballot. A confederation of forces led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) under S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike turfed the United National Party (UNP) and its right wing, English-educated leadership out of office. These forces represented a groundswell of the underprivileged against the privileged, and, as such, represented a radical socialist thrust. They also included a powerful strand of Sinhala nativism, i.e., of cultural nationalism, which made Sinhala the language of administration and which espoused conspiracy theories directed against the influence wielded by Catholic cabals. This body of thought has been described in the literature as “Sinhala linguistic nationalism” and “Sinhala Buddhist nationalism.” What requires underlining here is the fact that this ideological corpus had previously been in a defensive position because it was deemed a “communalism.” But, now, in 1956, the majoritarian sanction of a populist and radical victory converted it into a nationalism (see Roberts 1994, 258–59, 263–64, and ch. 12)–a force which some scholars, standing in the mid-1990s, would redefine as “chauvinism.”

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , November 1997 , pp. 1006 - 1032
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ames, Michael M. 1973– “Westernization or Modernization: the Case of the Sinhalese Buddhism.” Social Compass 20: 139–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amunugama, Sarath. 1978. “John de Silva and the Sinhala Nationalist Theatre.” Ceylon Historical Journal 25: 285–304.Google Scholar
Amunugama, Sarath. 1978. 1979 “Ideology and Class Interest in One of Piyadasa Sirisena's Novels: The New Image of the ‘Sinhala-Buddhist’ Nationalist. In Collective Identities, Nationalisms, and Protest in Modern Sri Lanka, edited by Roberts, M.. Colombo: Marga Institute.Google Scholar
Amunugama, Sarath. 1985. “Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) and the Transformation of Sinhala Buddhist Organization in a Colonial Setting.” Social Science Information 24: 697–730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amunugama, Sarath. 1991. “A Sinhala Buddhist ‘Babu’: Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) and the Bengal Connection.” Social Science Information 30: 555–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amunugama, Sarath. n.d. ‘“Peacocks in the rain’: Theosophists, Monks and Merchants in the Early Phase of the Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka (1880–1907).” unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Bartholomeusz, Tessa. 1993. “Dharmapala at Chicago. Mahayana Buddhist or Sinhala chauvinist?” In A Museum of Faiths: Histories and Legacies of the World Congress of Religions, edited by Ziolkowski, Eric J.. Atlanta: Scholars Press.Google Scholar
Bartholomeusz, Tessa. 1994. Women under the Bô Tree. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bond, George. 1988. The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Carrithers, M. 1983. The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carter, John R. 1993. “The Origin and Development of ‘Buddhism’ and ‘Religion’ in the Study of the Theravada Buddhist Tradition.” In On Understanding Buddhists. New York: State University of New York.Google Scholar
Cûlavamsa. 1953 Trans. By W., Geiger. Colombo: Ceylon Government Information Department.Google Scholar
Dahanayake, D. B. 1964. Lankavrtataya Part One: Sinhalo Saturo. Colombo: M. D. Gunasena and Co.Google Scholar
De Mel, Neloufer. 1993. “Tropes of Nationalism in the Modern Sinhala Theatre.” The Thatched Patio.Google Scholar
Denham, E. B. 1912. Ceylon at the Census of 1911. Colombo: Government Printer.Google Scholar
De Silva, C. R. 1983. “The Historiography of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka: A Survey of the Sinhala Writings.” Sanskriti 17: 13–22.Google Scholar
De Silva, K. M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dharmadasa, K. N. O. 1992. Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness in Sri Lanka. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Dharmapala, Anagarika. 1965. Return to Righteousness. Edited by Guruge, A.. Colombo: Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs. Cited as RR.Google Scholar
Dissanayake, Wimal. 1993. “Self and Body in Theravada Buddhism: A Tropological Analysis of the Dhammapada.” In Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice, edited by Kasulis, T. P. et al. New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Fernando, P. T. M. 1971. “Arrack, Toddy and Ceylonese Nationalism: Some Observations on the Temperance Movement.” Modern Ceylon Studies 2: 123–50.Google Scholar
Gombrich, Richard F. 1971. Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the Rural Highlands. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Gombrich, R., and G., OBEYESEKERE. 1988. Buddhism Transformed. Religious Change in Sri Lanka. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gunawardana, R. A. L. H. 1990. “The People of the Lion: Sinhala Identity and Ideology in History and Historiography.” In Sri Lanka. History and the Roots of Conflict, edited by J., Spencer. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Handler, Richard. 1988. Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Hobson-Jobson, . 1886. Hobson-Jobson, being a Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases. Edited by Yule, Col. H. and Burnell, A. C.. London:Google Scholar
Holt, John C. 1990. “Sri Lanka's Protestant Buddhism?” Ethnic Studies Report 8: 1–8.Google Scholar
Inden, Ron. 1990. Imagining India. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Jayasekera, P. V. J. 1970. Social and Political Change in Ceylon, 1900-1919- Ph.D. diss., Department of History, University of London.Google Scholar
Jaywardena, V. K. 1972. The Rise of the Labor Movement in Ceylon. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Jones, Kenneth W. 1989. The New Cambridge History of India. Vol. 3. Socio-religious Movements in British India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kapferer, Bruce. 1983. A Celebration of Demons. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Kemper, Steven. 1991. The Presence of the Past. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Knox, Robert. 1911. An Historical Relation of Ceylon. Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons.Google Scholar
Kitsiri, Malalgoda. 1970. “Millenialism in Relation to Buddhism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 12: 434–41.Google Scholar
Kitsiri, Malalgoda. 1976. Buddhism in Sinhalese Society. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Nissan, E. 1989 “History in the Making: Anuradhapura and Sinhala Buddhist Nation.” Social Analysis 25: 64–77.Google Scholar
Obeyesekere, Gananath. 1970. “Religious Symbolism and Political Change in Ceylon.” Modern Ceylon Studies 1: 48–63.Google Scholar
Obeyesekere, Gananath. “The Vicissitudes of the Sinhala-Buddhist Identity through Time and Change.” In Collective Identities, Nationalisms and Protest in Modern Sri Lanka, edited by M., Roberts. Colombo: Marga.Google Scholar
Obeyesekere, Gananath. 1984. “Political Violence and the Future of Democracy in Sri Lanka.” In Sri Lanka. The Ethnic Conflict, edited by the Committee for Rational Development. New Delhi: Navrang.Google Scholar
Obeyesekere, Gananath. 1991 “Buddhism and Conscience: An Exploratory Essay.” Daedalus 120: 219–39.Google Scholar
Obeyesekere, Gananath. 1995. “Buddhism, Nationhood, and Cultural Identity: A Question of Fundamentals.” In Fundamentalisms Comprehended, edited by Marty, M. E. and Appleby, R. S.. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Olcott, H. S. 1925. Theosophy, Religion and Occult Science. London: George Redway.Google Scholar
Olcott, H. S. 1935. Old Diary Leaves, sixth series. Theosophical Publishing House.Google Scholar
Prothero, Stephen. 1996. The White Buddhist. The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Frank. 1972. “The Two Wheels of the Dhamma: A Study in Early Buddhism.” In The Two Wheels of the Dhamma, edited by Obeyesekere, G. et al. Chambersburg: American Academy of Religion.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1979a. “Elite Formation and Elites, 1832-1931.” In Collective Identities, Nationalisms and Protest in Modern Sri Lanka, edited by Roberts, M.. Colombo: Marga.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1979b. “Stimulants and Ingredients in the Awakening of Latter-Day Nationalisms.” In Collective Identities, Nationalisms and Protest in Modern Sri Lanka, edited by Roberts, M.. Colombo: Marga.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1979c. “Problems of Collective Identity in a Multi-ethnic Society: Sectional Nationalism vs. Ceylonese Nationalism.” In Collective Identities, Nationalisms and Protest in Modern Sri Lanka, edited by Roberts, M.. Colombo: Marga.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1982. Caste Conflict and Elite Formation: The Rise of a Karava Elite in Sri Lanka, 1500–1931. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1989a. “The Political Antecedents of the Revivalist Elite with the MEP Coalition of 1956.” In K. W. Goonewardena Felicitation Volume, edited by de Silva, C. R. and Kiribamune, Sirima. Originally published in 1970. Peradeniya University.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1989b. “A Tale of Resistance: The Story of the Arrival of the Portuguese.” Ethnos 54: 69–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1993a. “Noise as Cultural Struggle: Tom-tom Beating, the British and Communal Disturbances in Sri Lanka.” Studies in Society and Culture, pamphlet series no. 7. Originally published in 1990.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1993b. “Nationalism, the Past and the Present: The Case of Sri Lanka.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 16: 133–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1994. Exploring Confrontation. Sri Lanka: Politics, Culture and History. Reading: Harwood Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1995. “Himself and Project. A Serial Autobiography. Our Journey with a Sinhala Zealot, Anagarika Dharmapala.” Paper presented at the 5th Sri Lanka Conference, University of New Hampshire, 10–13 August 1995.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael. 1996. “Shíadípa: The Power of Ideology in Sri Lanka.” IIAS Yearbook 1995. Leiden: International Institute for Asian Studies.Google Scholar
Roberts, Michael, ISMETH, RAHEEM, and PERCY, COLIN-THOMç 1989. People Inbetween. Vol. 1. The Burghers and the Middle Class in the Transformations within Sri Lanka, 1790s–1960s. Ratmalana: Sarvodaya Book Publishing Services.Google Scholar
Rogers, John D. 1987. Crime, Justice and Society in Colonial Sri Lanka. London: Curzon Press.Google Scholar
Scott, David D. 1994. “Religion in Colonial Civil Society: Buddhism and Modernity in 19th Century Sri Lanka.” The Thatched Patio, July/August: 1–16.Google Scholar
Spencer, Jonathan. 1990. A Sinhala Village in a Time of Trouble. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tambiah, S. J. 1976. World Conqueror and World Renouncer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tambiah, S. J. 1992. Buddhism Betrayed? Religion, Politics and Violence in Sri Lanka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Tambiah, S. J. 1993. “Buddhism, Politics and Violence in Sri Lanka.” In Fundamentalisms and the State, edited by Marty, M. E. and Appleby, R. S.. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Tambiah, S. J. 1996. Leveling Crowds. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trainor, Kevin. 1995. “In the Eye of the Beholder. Non-attachment and the Body in Subhā's Verse.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 61: 57–79.Google Scholar
Tweed, Thomas A. 1992. The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844–1912. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Whitworth, G. C. 1885. The Anglo-Indian Dictionary. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Co.Google Scholar
Wickremasinghe, K. D. P. 1976. Apēsanskrutika urumaya [Our cultural heritage]. Colombo: Indika Printers.Google Scholar
Wickremeratne, L. A. 1993. “Religion, Nationalism and Social Change in Ceylon.” Studies in Society and Culture, pamphlet series no. 8. Originally published in 1968.Google Scholar
Wickremeratne, L. A. 1995. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Delhi: Vikas.Google Scholar
Young, Richard F. 1995. “The Carpenter-Preta: An Eighteenth-Century Sinhala-Buddhist Folktale about Jesus.” Asian Folklore Studies 54: 49–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, Richard F. 1997. “Imagined Beleaguerment and the Self-Representation of Mohottivattē Gunānanda.” In Sri Lanka. Collective Identities Revisited, edited by Roberts, M.. Colombo: Marga Publications.Google Scholar
Young, R. F., and Somaratna, G. P. V.. 1996. Vain Debates. The Buddhist-Christian Controversies of Nineteenth-Century Ceylon. Vienna: Sammlung de Nobili Redaktion.Google Scholar