Sri Lankan Anglophone Literature as a Mode for Dialogue and Reconciliation in the Portrayal of War in Sri Lanka (1983-2009)

Abstract

From ancient times, war has played a main role in the lives of people and has been a major theme for literature, history, and as well as for political discourses. The period between 1983-2009 marks the war that took place in Sri Lankan history, which impacted the country politically, culturally, and economically. The realms of Sri Lankan English, Sinhala, and Tamil literature also went through change during this period, and many fiction, poems, dramas, and films were composed in response to the war both during and in its aftermath. The Sri Lankan Anglophone writers: residential authors as well as authors of the diaspora portray the war through their literary compositions. This critical literature review examines the role Anglophone literature plays as a mode for dialogue and reconciliation in the portrayal of war. Above ten studies conducted on Sri Lankan Anglophone literature and its role in portraying war published between 1992 and 2020 were reviewed. The findings of the review indicate that many scholars consider Sri Lankan Anglophone literature as a platform that plays a significant role as a mode for dialogue and reconciliation while some consider it as literature composed by the English-speaking class for its own class. This review concludes that the Sri Lankan Anglophone literature plays a substantial role as a medium for dialogue and reconciliation in the portrayal of war in Sri Lanka (1989-2003).