Sinhalese
Contributors: Leach, E. R. (Edmund Ronald), 1910-1989; MacDougall, Robert D. (Robert Duncan), 1940-1987; Robinson, Marguerite S.; Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja, 1929-2014; Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja, 1929-2014; Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja, 1929-2014; Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja, 1929-2014; Yalman, Nur; Human Relations Area Files, inc; University of Ceylon
Series: eHRAF world cultures. Asia; eHRAF world cultures
Publisher: Human Relations Area Files
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New Haven, Conn
Language: eng
Subjects: Sinhalese (Sri Lankan people); Sri Lankans; Civilization; Race relations; Tamil (Indic people); Relations with Sinhalese
Other titles: Aspects of religion in South Asia. Selections.
Description: The Sinhalese are the dominant ethnic group in Sri Lanka. There are ten documents in this file, focused mainly on the Kandyan Sinhalese. The dates of coverage range from 1860 to the 1980s; with most of the fieldwork done in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these works are heavily oriented to kinship and its integration into other cultural aspects of the society. Yalman's work, based on seven community studies, is probably the best general source on Kandyan kinship and its relation to other aspects of the culture. While most of the kinship documents tend to be concerned with the theoretical considerations of British kinship and social structure studies, they are well supported with case histories and community studies material which provide more than just kinship information. A number provide additional ethnographic data on social structure, architecture, material culture, religion, politics, culture history, and the ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese population and the minority Tamils.
Notes: Title from Web page (viewed Jan. 16, 2003).

This portion of the eHRAF collection of ethnography was last updated in 1997 and is a revision and update of the microfiche file.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Table of contents: title: Magical-animism and Buddhism  -- Michael M. Ames; title: Pul Eliya, a village in Ceylon  -- E.R. Leach; title: Domestic architecture among the Kandyan Sinhalese  -- Robert Duncan MacDougall; title: Some observations on the Kandyan Sinhalese kinship system  -- Marguerite S. Robinson; title: The disintegrating village, report of a socio-economic survey  -- University of Ceylon; title: Buddhism betrayed? ; Kinship fact and fiction in relation to the Kandyan Sinhalese ; Sri Lanka, ethnic fratricide and the dismantling of democracy ; The structure of kinship and its relationship to land possession and residence in Pata Dumbara, central Ceylon  -- S.J. Tambiah; title: Under the bo tree -- Nur Yalman.