Cultural Memory and War Trauma in Sri Lankan Diasporic Writing (and Film)

这个项目将探索斯里兰卡内战(1983-2009年)后的文化记忆和创伤在散居海外的斯里兰卡作家Shobasakthi、Niromi de Soyza、Michael Ondaatje、Shyam Selvadurai、Shobasakthi的电影以及弗朗西斯·哈里森的书《仍在清点死者》和纪录片《斯里兰卡未完成的战争》中的遗产和表现。文学和电影如何代表政治创伤、文化错位和记忆？这种对斯里兰卡侨民写作和电影的分析将为理解斯里兰卡政治及其在斯里兰卡移民集体无意识中留下的创伤提供洞察力。它将分析创伤文化记忆的叙事学表现和身份形成的过程。中间分析(对电影和文学的一种差异化方法)将重新定义产生文化记忆和身份认同的方式和可能性。这项研究将比较艺术家的个人文化记忆，并调查这些艺术家在多大程度上创造了集体文化记忆，作为散居海外的斯里兰卡人的必然身份。该项目侧重于地区作者和泰米尔人对幸存者的证词叙述，致力于纠正现有的以欧洲为中心的创伤研究方法，并致力于实现该领域对真正跨文化、非西方分析的承诺。

This project will explore the legacy and representation of cultural memory and trauma after the Sri Lankan civil war (1983-2009) in the Sri Lankan diasporic writings of Shobasakthi, Niromi De Soyza, Michael Ondaatje, Shyam Selvadurai; the films of Shobasakthi; and Frances Harrison's book 'Still Counting the Dead' and documentary 'Sri Lanka's Unfinished War'. How do literature and films represent political trauma, cultural dislocation and memory? This analysis of Sri Lankan diaspora writing and films will provide insight in comprehending Sri Lankan politics and the trauma it has left in the collective unconscious of Sri Lankan migrants. It will analyse the narratological manifestations of traumatic cultural memory and the processes of identity formation. Intermedial analysis (a differentiated approach to film and literature) will redefine the ways and possibilities of producing cultural memory and identity. The research will compare the artists' individual cultural memories, and will investigate the extent to which these artists create a collective cultural memory as an inevitable identity for the Sri Lankan diaspora. In its focus on regional authors and Tamil testimonial narratives of survivors, this project works to correct the existing Eurocentric approach to trauma studies, and works towards fulfilling the field's promise of a truly cross-cultural, non-western analysis.