Buddhism and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka

Patrick Grant is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He is the author of several books, including Literature, Rhetoric, and Violence in Northern Ireland, 1968–1998: Hardened to Death and Personalism and the Politics of Culture.

• PrefacePART I. READING BUDDHISM 1. Vedic Tradition and the Buddha: How to Say the Unsayable2. Buddhism: The Art of the Detached AgonistPART II READING SRI LANKA 3. Sri Lanka: Buddhist Self-Representation and the Genesis of the Modern Conflict4. Anagarika Dharmapala: Buddhism, Science, and the Crisis of Historical Imagination5. Walpola Rahula and Gamini Salgado: Buddhism, Dialogue, and the Political Imaginary6. J. R. Jayewardene: Playing with Fire7. ConclusionNotesSuggestions for Further ReadingIndex

"…a solid introduction to Buddhism and its relationship with the conflict in Sri Lanka during the twentieth century. This work will be especially beneficial to scholars looking at the intersection of religion and politics in times of crisis. It also will be a useful text in courses in religion, history, sociology, and conflict. Buddhism and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka provides a useful lens that could be used to examine similar conflicts around the globe." — H-Net Reviews (H-Genocide)"Understanding the reasons for the conflict … remains a critical need, in order to insure that Sri Lanka's military victory does not serve merely as a prelude to more insurgency … Grant seeks to contribute to this understanding by explaining the formation of ethnic division along religious lines." — International Journal of Asian Studies"…Grant introduces a mode of analysis that illuminates the ways in which particular Buddhist perspectives have fueled this civil war … Grant insightfully, compellingly, and provocatively focuses on the role of language, rhetoric, and imagination in the formation of ideologies that have worsened this conflict." — Journal of Asian Studies