Research topic: Archives of Sri Lanka's Vocal Arts: The Lyrical Genres of the Nevill Collection as Refractions of Sri Lanka, Past and Present

大英图书馆的档案馆里有数千份僧伽罗文手稿，统称为内维尔藏书。1865年至1897年由英国法官休·内维尔(1847-1897年)在斯里兰卡收藏，这本合集以他的名字命名，内维尔合集收录了数百部斯里兰卡Kavi、sivupada、Sindu、vannam和Wandana抒情体裁文本，可追溯到13世纪至1897年。我建议把重点放在16世纪以后的《内维尔文集》上。特别是，我将研究1707至1815年间与坎迪安宫廷有关的文本(从Narendrasimha统治到1815年宫廷落入英国人手中)，以及16世纪至1897年之间与宗教背景有关的文本(从估计由一位小乘僧侣创作的奈维尔抒情诗的最早日期到内维尔去世的那一年)。我们将以这些文本为素材，探讨两条主线：音乐性在这些语境中的作用及其社会生活。在这些时期，音乐性在宫廷和宗教背景下有哪些功能，围绕它生活的人是谁？除了这部作品，我还将研究内维尔的收藏品，作为19世纪斯里兰卡音乐性和殖民主义之间关系的一个例子。这一点的核心将是考虑内维尔收集抒情文本的背景和推动他收集的因素。内维尔在锡兰期间一直受雇为公务员，他的歌词集与南亚其他殖民代理人的歌词集有相似之处。因此，我研究他的抒情诗集，以期与19世纪斯里兰卡的英国殖民政府建立关系，并在此背景下为殖民者提供音乐性的场所。我的项目主要是档案性和历史性的。然而，我也将在今天这些流派的实践者中进行田野调查。首先，这将定位现代生活中的抒情叙事和另类叙事，这些叙事围绕这些流派产生细微的差异、质疑或取代已有的叙事。这一研究领域的中心将是观察内维尔收集之前到今天之间的连续性和变化的例子。里卡多·罗克和金·瓦格纳提出，通过研究殖民时期的档案，学者们可以确定殖民时期的叙述、图像和分类是如何产生的，以及是如何由物质环境和身体实践产生的。通过考虑奈维尔文集中较长的文本和流派史学，以及奈维尔今天的收集实践和现代抒情实践，我的目的是展示殖民表现和抒情实践之间的关系和影响。内维尔收藏之前的宫廷和宗教背景是如何塑造殖民表现形式的，这些表现形式后来又如何影响了当代和后代的抒情表演者、他们的做法和叙事？通过回答这个问题，我希望展示斯里兰卡的殖民主义和音乐性的历史，与今天的做法和更遥远的过去的做法相互联系，追溯内维尔歌词的谱系，并为其发展特点提供解释。我的研究课题有三个方面。通过《内维尔合集》，我将考察从16世纪到19世纪斯里兰卡的音乐史学；19世纪斯里兰卡的音乐性、收藏和殖民主义；以及内维尔合集的抒情体裁与现代实践之间的连续性和变化。每一个小主题都与《内维尔汇编》有关；将在整个过程中审查其方法学影响。然而，将这个档案放在这一重要的中心给了我必要的限制，使我的项目可行。

In the archives of the British Library are several thousand Sinhala manuscripts known collectively as the Nevill Collection. Collected in Sri Lanka between 1865 and 1897 by British judge Hugh Nevill (1847-1897), from whom this collection takes its name, the Nevill Collection contains hundreds of Sri Lankan kavi, sivupada, sindu, vannam, and wandana lyrical genre texts dating between the thirteenth century and 1897. I propose to focus on the Nevill Collection texts that date from the sixteenth century onwards. In particular, I will examine texts that relate to the Kandyan court between 1707 and 1815 (from the reign of Narendrasimha to the fall of the court to the British in 1815) and texts that relate to religious contexts between the sixteenth century and 1897 (from the earliest date estimated of a Nevill lyric composed by a Theravada monk to the year that Nevill died). These texts will be taken as sources to pursue two main lines of inquiry: the roles of musicality in these contexts and its social life. What functions did musicality have in courtly and religious contexts in these periods, and who were the people that lived their lives around it?Alongside this work, I will also research Nevill's collecting as an example of relationships between musicality and colonialism in nineteenth-century Sri Lanka. Central to this will be considering the contexts in which Nevill collected lyrical texts and the factors that drove his collecting. Nevill was employed as a Civil Servant throughout his time in Ceylon and his collection of lyrics bears similarities with those of other colonial agents in South Asia. As such, I approach his lyrical collection with a view to establish its relationships with the British colonial administration in nineteenth-century Sri Lanka and the place of musicality for colonialists in this context. My project is primarily archival and historical. However, I will also conduct fieldwork among today's practitioners of these genres. Primarily, this will be to locate both the modern life of the lyric and alternative narratives that nuance, question or supplant received narratives around these genres. Central to this research area will be to observe examples of continuity and change between the time prior to Nevill's collecting and today. Ricardo Roque and Kim Wagoner have suggested that, by examining colonial archives, scholars can ascertain 'how colonial narrations, images, and classifications generated, and were generated by, material situations and bodily practices'. By considering the longer historiography of texts and genres in the Nevill Collection alongside Nevill's collecting practices and modern lyrical practices today, I aim to demonstrate the relationships and influence between colonial representation and lyrical practices. How did the courtly and religious contexts prior to Nevill's collecting shape colonial representations, and how did these representations subsequently affect contemporary and future generations of lyrical performers, their practices and narratives? By answering this question, I hope to present a history of colonialism and musicality in Sri Lanka that interlinks with today's practices and those of the more distant past, tracing the lineage of the Nevill lyrics and offering explanations for their developing characteristics. My research topic is threefold. Through the Nevill Collection, I will examine the musical historiography of Sri Lanka from the sixteenth to nineteenth century; musicality, collecting and colonialism in nineteenth-century Sri Lanka; and continuities and change between the lyrical genres of the Nevill Collection and modern practices. Each subtopic is connected to the Nevill Collection; the methodological implications of which will be reviewed throughout. However, positioning this archive at the centre of this importantly gives me necessary limitations to make my project feasible.