Changing Scenarios of Tamilian Culture: Some Thoughts on the Cultural Dimensions of the Ethnic War in Sri Lanka

Although the political and economic implications of the ongoing ethnic war in Sri Lanka have come under varied scrutiny, its cultural dimensions have so far been a neglected area. Ironically, the attitude of the Tamils, the minority ethnic group to the conflict, towards their culture has been rather lukewarm vis-à-vis their concern over political and/or economic rights. This has not, however, resulted in any cultural rigidity whereby Tamil culture remained wholly immune to war conditions. On the contrary, it has been subject to a state of flux. The objective of this paper is to analyse this process of transformation. After a brief analysis of the origin of the ethnic war and the reasons for the diminished interest shown by Tamils in the state of their culture, the paper goes on to examine the nature of cultural changes. It identifies an external as well as an internal dimension in the ongoing process. Of the two, the latter reveals a higher degree of dynamism, leading to a number of changes that have either occurred or are imminent. The reasons for this dynamism and its implications are discussed. The external dimension, on the other hand, has not only failed to react favourably to internal developments but has also threatened to become the fresh breeding grounds for some of the discarded notions of the internal sector. After offering reasons for such an outcome, the paper recognises that the external dimension has its utility in the dissemination of the conflict at a global level. The paper concludes that, notwithstanding the ultimate outcome of the ethnic crisis, there is sufficient opportunity for the Tamil culture to be further strengthened based especially on the mutual contributions of the internal and external dimensions.