Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter oneIntroduction: the power of the past, JonathanSpencer; Part I Colonialism, history and racism; Chapter 2 The generation of communal identities, Elizabeth Nissan, R.L. Stirrat; Chapter 3 Chapter threeThe people of the lion: the Sinhala midentity and ideology in history and historiography, R.A.L.H. Gunawardana; Chapter 4 Chapter fourHistorical images in the British period, John D.Rogers; Chapter 5 Chapter five The politics of the Tamil past, DagmarHellmann-Rajanayagam; Part 2 Part II History at a moment of crisis; Chapter 6 Chapter six Nationalist rhetoric and local practice: the fate of the village community in Kukulewa, James Brow; Chapter 7 Chapter sevenA compound of many histories: themany pasts of an east coast Tamilcommunity, Mark P.Whitaker; Chapter 8 Chapter eight Rural awakenings: grassroots development and the cultivation of a national past in rural Sri Lanka, Michael D. Woost; Part 3 Part IIIThe politics of the past; Chapter 9 Chapter nineJ.R.Jayewardene, righteousnessand realpolitik, Steven Kemper; Chapter 10 Chapter tenNewspaper nationalism: Sinhala identity as historical discourse, SerenaTennekoon; Chapter 11 Chapter elevenAfterword: scared places, violent spaces, DanielE.Valentine;

About the Author

Jonathan Spencer is a lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh.

Reviews

`An important departure from conventional analyses of the conflict ... an urgently needed attempt to de-mythicise the terms of the ideological debate ... stands in sharp contrast to the chauvinism which has afflicted much recent intellectual activity in Sri Lanka.' - Times Higher Education Supplement

`In looking at the sources of current versions of the national past, and the ways in which such versions are disseminated and contested, the contributors have assembled a remarkably broad account of the cultural politics of the ethnic crisis.' - Indian Economic Review

`Accessible to the general reader wanting a refreshingly balanced exposition of a complex topic.' - International Affairs