Fiction As Social Protest: Liyanage Amarakeerthi’s Stand Against Militarized Education

Abstract

This paper looks at how fiction can be used as an effective means to protest about social issues, taking the case of what can be called the militarization of education, and the stand one writer took against it through two of his postwar novels. It will analyze how, through plot and characterization, the writer shows what harm can befall a society if what is expected in militarized education, i.e. unquestioning obedience to power and authority, bears results. The point this paper makes is that fiction is an effective tool in protests, and just like this particular writer took part in the physical rallies that many Sri Lankan academics were involved in, in 2021, in opposing what they thought was the government’s attempts to militarize the higher education system of Sri Lanka, he also put forth that resistance in his creative work, perhaps making deeper and more long-lasting inroads into the minds of the people about the harm such an education might bring to this country. In the two novels chosen here for analysis, two unconventional university students give their opinion quite ruthlessly about what is happening to the protagonists who are both involved in the media and being used for ends they themselves are unaware of. Through these plot structures, Amarakeerthi is able to explore the nexus between media, capitalism and nationalism in Sri Lanka, the awareness of which is crucial to Sri Lankans if they are to navigate the politics of post war Sri Lanka without harming themselves.