Error message

Contemporary Issues in Asia and the Pacific Contemporary Issues in Asia and the Pacific
Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka
Format
paper
Pages
xxii, 276
ISBN
0-8047-4924-8

Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka is the seventh title in the East-West Center book series, Contemporary Issues in Asia and the Pacific, published by Stanford University Press.

In the mid-1950s, Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese politicians began outbidding one another on who could provide the greatest advantages for their community, using the Sinhala language as their instrument. The appeal to Sinhalese linguistic nationalism precipitated a situation in which the movement to replace English as the country's official language with Sinhala and Tamil (the language of Sri Lanka's principal minority) was abandoned and Sinhala alone became the official language in 1956. The Tamils' subsequent protests led to anti-Tamil riots and institutional decay, which meant that supposedly representative agencies of government catered to Sinhalese preferences and blatantly disregarded minority interests. This in turn led to the Tamils' mobilizing, first politically then militarily, and by the mid-1970s Tamil youth were bent on creating a separate state.

 

Details and ordering information at Stanford University Press

Contents
  1. An Overview
  2. Ethnic Identies and Politics Before Independence
  3. From Linguistic Parity to Sinhala-Only
  4. The Official Language Act of 1956
  5. Institutional Decay: The Consequences of the Official Language Act, 1956-77
  6. From Linguistic Nationalism to Civil War
  7. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Ethnic Conflict
  8. Conclusion
Appendixes (A-H)

Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka is the seventh title in the East-West Center book series, Contemporary Issues in Asia and the Pacific, published by Stanford University Press.

In the mid-1950s, Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese politicians began outbidding one another on who could provide the greatest advantages for their community, using the Sinhala language as their instrument. The appeal to Sinhalese linguistic nationalism precipitated a situation in which the movement to replace English as the country's official language with Sinhala and Tamil (the language of Sri Lanka's principal minority) was abandoned and Sinhala alone became the official language in 1956. The Tamils' subsequent protests led to anti-Tamil riots and institutional decay, which meant that supposedly representative agencies of government catered to Sinhalese preferences and blatantly disregarded minority interests. This in turn led to the Tamils' mobilizing, first politically then militarily, and by the mid-1970s Tamil youth were bent on creating a separate state.

 

Details and ordering information at Stanford University Press

Contents
  1. An Overview
  2. Ethnic Identies and Politics Before Independence
  3. From Linguistic Parity to Sinhala-Only
  4. The Official Language Act of 1956
  5. Institutional Decay: The Consequences of the Official Language Act, 1956-77
  6. From Linguistic Nationalism to Civil War
  7. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Ethnic Conflict
  8. Conclusion
Appendixes (A-H)