The Politics and Poetics of Authenticity
Publisher: UCL Press
Language: eng
Number of pages: 176
ISBN-13: 9781787351288
Subjects: Literature & literary studies; Nationalism; Asian history; Regional & national history; History
Description: What is the role of cultural authenticity in the making of nations? Much scholarly and popular commentary on nationalism dismisses authenticity as a romantic fantasy or, worse, a deliberately constructed mythology used for political manipulation. The Politics and Poetics of Authenticity places authenticity at the heart of Sinhala nationalism in late nineteenth and twentieth-century Sri Lanka. It argues that the passion for the ?real? or the ?authentic? has played a significant role in shaping nationalist thinking and argues for an empathetic yet critical engagement with the idea of authenticity.
Notes: English.