HIS 4292 Discourse Analysis of Popular History of Sri Lanka
Course Description:
This course is designed introduce students to the vast field of popular history writing that is being produced on the history of the island, not necessarily by qualified experts in the field, but mostly by non-specialized writers who target the mass readership. This course will help students to engage in practical history, i.e., popular conceptions of history that are dominant within the broader public. The course expects to conduct a series of guest lectures with persons who produce these popular histories as well as those who critically engage with them with the purpose of giving students an interactive experience of learning.
Learning Objectives:
Objectives of this course are to familiarize students with the vast field of popular history of Sri Lanka; to enable them to read these popular history texts analytically and critically; to provide an opportunity for students to engage in discussion with writers and critics of the field of popular history.
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this course, students should be able to
• Identify the main discourses that shape the historiography of Sri Lanka
• Analyse how articulations of history affect the political, social and economic structures of Sri Lanka
• Grasp the ideological bases of the discourses and place them in empirical situations
Course Content:
1. Popular articulations of History : An introduction
2. The Colonial gaze
3. The Dharmapala tradition
4. The Hela Havula tradition
5. Non Buddhist versions
6. Popular aspects in mainstreaming History
7. The history of militant ethno-nationalism
8. Peripheral histories
Assessment:
Attendance 10%
Midterm Test or Assignment 30%
Final Exam 60%
Recommended Readings:
ඇන්තනි ජැක්සන් (2006) මහසින්හළේ වංසකතාව කොළඹ :ගුණසේන සහ සමාගම
ගුණසේකර සූරිය (2007) ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ හෙලයුගය (විජයාගමනයට පෙර ලංකාව) කෝට්ටේ :කතෘ ප්රකාශනයකි
ද සිල්වා නලින් (2010) අපේ ප්රවාද 3 – අපේ ඉතිහාසයට නව සුසමාදර්ශයක් බොරලැස්ගමුව : විසිදුනු ප්රකාශකයෝ
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ධර්මපාල අනගාරික (1991) ධර්මපාල ප්රතිරාවය (සංස් ආනන්ද ගුරුගේ ) අධ්යාපන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව
Charles M. (1944) ‘Benjamin West’s “Death of General Wolfe” and the Popular History Piece’ Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes Vol. 7, pp. 20-33 [on line]
Gunawardane, R.A.L.H., (1995) Historiography in a Time of Ethnic Conflict, Colombo : Social Scientist Association
Hobsbawm, Eric, and Ranger, Terence (eds.) (2010) Invention of Tradition UK: Cambridge University Press.
Strauss G, (1991) ‘View point: Dilemma of popular history’ Past and Present [online]