Landscape of Repressed Memories: Triumphalism and Counter-Historical Narratives in Sri Lanka's Former War Zone

The chapter explores memorialization and particular readings of history in Sri Lanka after the ending of the civil war in 2009. The victor of the war, the Sri Lankan government, has systematically destroyed not only sites and monuments telling the tale of its opponent’s historical struggle to liberate the Tamil parts of the island but has also banned memorabilia and practices through which the families and communities of the liberation fighters remember the dead. This destruction is part of a larger effort on the part of the government to enforce a particular reading of the historical significance of the apocalyptic events of 2009, a reading in line with the general self-understanding of the Sinhala nation as being continuously under threat from outside forces. On the Tamil side, politicians have in the post-war period tried to come to terms with the brutal legacy of the liberation movement through the forging of a new narrative. The author argues that the memories of what has been broken and unmade serve as building blocks in constructing new and diverse counter-hegemonic historical narratives