Valour, violence and the ethics of struggle: constructing militant masculinities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This article explores the parameters of valour and violence and how these shaped the making of Sri Lankan Tamil masculinities on the battlefield, through life-narratives collected from 11 ex-activists. Masculinity is tied to the body: attributes such as valour, violence, aggression, confidence, composure and deference are inscribed upon the body and its demeanours. Different cultures may privilege some of these attributes over others. In martially inclined cultures, for instance, masculinity is built around notions of honour. Honour entails risking one’s body for a cause (valour). Against this, in agrarian-led contexts such as the Tamil Vellalas in Sri Lanka, masculinity turns on the composed body or bodily dignity, and the restless (risk-taking) body is seen as undignified. Bodily violence becomes the repertoire of thugs, marauders or underlings who bloody their hands on behalf of their betters. However, in taking-up arms, the activist ventures into new cultural terrain, choosing a highly performative practice of masculinity (entailing bodily aggression/violence) and privileging it over other, more culturally validated practices such as that of writer, doctor or lawyer, which stress the composed body and bodily dignity. But taking up arms also demands that the activist interrogates the nature of valour and violence and where the line between them should be drawn.