Modernizing Composition: Sinhala Song, Poetry, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Sri Lanka

2017·5.1 MB·English

by  Field, Garrett

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Modernizing
omposition
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Garrett Field
Sinhala Song, Poetry, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Sri Lanka
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Modernizing Composition
SOUTH ASIA ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES
Edited by Muzaffar Alam, Robert Goldman, and Gauri Viswanathan
Dipesh Chakrabarty, Sheldon Pollock, and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Founding Editors
Funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and jointly published
by the University of California Press, the University of Chicago Press,
and Columbia University Press
For a list of books in the series, see page 215.
Modernizing Composition
Sinhala Song, Poetry, and Politics in
Twentieth-Century Sri Lanka
Garrett Field
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing
scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic
contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information,
visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2017 by Garrett Field
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND license.
To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses.
Suggested citation: Field, Garrett. Modernizing Composition: Sinhala Song,
Poetry, and Politics in Twentieth-Century Sri Lanka. Oakland: University of
California Press, 2017. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.27
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Field, Garrett, author.
Title: Modernizing composition : Sinhala song, poetry, and politics in
   twentieth-century Sri Lanka / Garrett Field.
Other titles: South Asia across the disciplines.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017]
   | Series: South Asia across the disciplines | Includes bibliographical
    references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017004065| ISBN 9780520294714 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
  ISBN 9780520967755 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Songs, Sinhalese—Texts—20th century—History and
   criticism. | Sinhalese poetry—20th century—History and criticism.
   | Songs, Sinhalese—20th century—History and criticism. | Sri Lanka—
   Politics and government—20th century. | Sri Lanka—Foreign relations—
   India, North.
Classification: LCC PK2852 F54 2017 | DDC 891.4/817109—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017004065
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Mom, Dad, Nayomi, and Sophia

Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Translation and Transliteration xii
Introduction 1
Part One: The Colonial Era
1. Nationalist Thought and the Sri Lankan World 19
2. Brothers of the Pure Sinhala Fraternity 34
3. Wartime Romance 56
Part Two: The Postcolonial Era
4. Divergent Standards of Excellence 77
5. For the People 99
6. Illusions to Disillusions 116
Conclusion 136
Notes 141
Bibliography 191
Index 203