EARLY LIFE IN SRI LANKA
The life story approach to oral history often begins with childhood. For some of our interviewees, youth coincided with the birth of an independent Ceylon, renamed Sri Lanka in the
1972 Constitution. Others came of age during periods of communal
conflict or war. In each case, their stories vividly recall the ebb and flow of daily life in a close-knit Jaffna village or in the bustle of the capital in Colombo.
1972 Constitution. Others came of age during periods of communal
conflict or war. In each case, their stories vividly recall the ebb and flow of daily life in a close-knit Jaffna village or in the bustle of the capital in Colombo.
LAYERS OF BELONGING
Reflecting on relationships in Sri Lanka between people of different
regional, economic, ethnic or linguistic backgrounds, many recall a rich
diversity of interactions.
POLITICS & THE NATION-STATE
When Britons arrived in Sri Lanka in the 18th Century, landing, as many
tourists do now, on its coastal shores before carving a path deep into its
lush, green geographic centre of Kandy, they were following a well-worn
trail to the country opened up as early as 1505 by Portuguese and Dutch
colonists.
TROUBLES
With statehood came the challenge of defining who belonged to the new nation and in what language its laws and customs would be communicated.
LEAVING & ARRIVAL
British Tamils had their own group of pioneers drawn to London long before it became a port of last resort and asylum for families and individuals fleeing conflict.
TRANSITIONS
As the mass migration away from Sri Lanka grew, Tamil life spread to many
places, including Germany, Norway, Denmark, the UK, Canada, Australia and
the USA. This type of experience is often referred to as diaspora.
HOME
Through the generations finds its resting place on the idea of home.
For our speakers, home may be a place in the past, the present or the future, in the imagination or in the physical comfort of community or family, in Britain, Sri Lanka, a homeland in the North and East of Sri Lanka or somewhere else entirely.
For our speakers, home may be a place in the past, the present or the future, in the imagination or in the physical comfort of community or family, in Britain, Sri Lanka, a homeland in the North and East of Sri Lanka or somewhere else entirely.
